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Here’s the bottom line about the coronavirus.

There is no need to panic, but we should all know the basics around what is it and how it spreads, and start taking precautions to ensure that we minimise our chances of catching it.

Thus far, two South African citizens have tested positive, although those cases were on a Japanese cruise ship, and both have been treated and were asymptomatic as of Friday last week.

Yesterday, Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize reassured South Africans that there have been no positive cases reported in the country (although the virus has reached sub-Saharan Africa), adding that our government is taking no chances with regards the quarantined South Africans due to return from Wuhan, China.

I guess we can run through the basics of the virus one more time, starting with CNN’s look at the symptoms:

Coronavirus makes people sick, usually with a mild to moderate upper respiratory tract illness, similar to a common cold. Its symptoms include a runny nose, cough, sore throat, headache and a fever that can last for a couple of days.

For those with a weakened immune system, the elderly and the very young, there’s a chance the virus could cause a lower, and much more serious, respiratory tract illness like a pneumonia or bronchitis.

The virus has an incubation period (the span of time during which people have developed illness after exposure) of around 14 days.

With the symptoms out of the way, we move onto how to avoid it. Or at least, how to try:

…you may be able to reduce your risk of infection by avoiding people who are sick. Cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze, and disinfect the objects and surfaces you touch.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

Not touching your face sounds a great deal simpler than it really is, especially when you’re trying to avoid doing it.

Travellers using airports should also heed these five tips to reduce the chance of infection.

There is currently no vaccine to protect against the coronavirus, and there won’t be for quite some time. It will be months before clinical trials can begin, and likely more than a year until any vaccine would become available.

One of the more common questions, and misunderstandings, centres around the chances of dying once you have the virus.

For that, we head to the Daily Maverick:

Around eight out of every 10 people who become infected with COVID-19 only have mild disease and recover. Around 1 in 20 get so sick that they may require hospitalisation. Only around 1 in 50 people diagnosed with COVID-19 have died (if you factor in people who have not been diagnosed the death rate is probably under 1 in 100). This makes COVID-19 much less deadly than other recent viral outbreaks such as SARS (8%) and MERS (>30%) – In the technical jargon, COVID-19 has a lower case fatality rate than SARS and MERS.

As we learn more about COVID-19 in the coming weeks and months some of the above numbers may change, but probably not too dramatically.

OK, but then you should also bear the following in mind:

COVID-19 has already killed more people than SARS – even though SARS was more deadly. This is because COVID-19 is more infectious and has infected more people. The fact that it infects so many people means that the death toll can be high, even though the risk of any specific individual diagnosed with the virus dying of COVID-19 is relatively low.

Finally, here’s one bit of information that should bring you great comfort – the World Health Organisation says there is currently no evidence that pets can be infected with the COVID-19 virus.

Like any good owner, you should still wash your hands after playing with your pooch, as there are many infections that can still pass between humans and pets.

You should also still expect looks of disgust when allowing your dog to lick your face (you know what else they lick, right?), but your pet won’t be giving you the coronavirus (based on all current evidence).

Right, we have covered the basics there. For those who really want to keep up to speed, you can follow the spread of the coronavirus with this real-time tracker by Johns Hopkins University.

[sources:cnn&dailymaverick]