Right now, I am sure at least everyone has heard about the coronavirus, in depth or has snippets of information about it. Since its outbreak in January this year the virus has so far claimed over 4200 lives and more than 115800 others have been infected across the world. Yesterday WHO declared the novel coronavirus a pandemic calling on governments to take urgent and aggressive actions to contain the virus.
Since its outbreak our lives have been affected in many ways and this will continue in months to come. Businesses have been affected, flights cancelled, others countries have gone on complete lockdown just to reduce the spread of the virus and get back to normalcy. But as we are working hard to contain the virus, we have to understand and address the rising cases of ignorance, stigma and racially motivated assaults before they get out of hand.
In the UK a Korean student was attacked and hackled to leave the country, and so was in New York where a woman was assaulted for not wearing a mask. In both cases the victims suffered serious body injuries. Here in Kenya a video circulated on social media of a Chinese male and female being hackled ‘coronavirus’, luckly the two were not attacked.
So far the country has no confirmed cases, but there is a high probability of racial attacks if the public is not fully informed about the pandemic. As a result, today we endeavor to debunk the virus in order to reduce its spread as well as stop racial attacks over the virus.
So what is Coronavirus?
Coronavirus are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted from animals to human beings. The novel coronavirus also known as COVID-19 is new and has never been identified before in humans. It originated from Wuhan in China and most likely from the wet markets, which are known to put people, live and dead animals together in constant close contact making it easy for zoonotic diseases to jump from animals to humans.
A wet market in China
A wet market in China
How is the virus spread?
The first infection is known most likely to have been animal to human transmission. Currently most of the infections are person to person transmission with contact of within 6-foot (1.8 meters) radius, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). When an infected person sneezes our coughs and the viral particles land in the mouths or noses of those nearby they are most likely to contract the virus.
It might also be possible to catch the virus by touching a surface where the virus has recently landed and then touching one's mouth, nose or eyes, but CDC officials believe this method of transmission is less common.
What are the symptoms to look out for?
If you have been exposed to the virus, it takes 2-14days for the symptoms to manifest. During this period, an infected person will have fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and eventually death.
At the moment many are worried if the government is well-prepared to handle the virus. but the truth of the matter is, if it gets into the country it can overwhelm our health system. As such, its more important if citizens to learn and practice basic preventive measures. Such are:
Washing hands frequently with soap and water or sanitizer. You are even advised to reduce physical interactions that involve your hand as much as possible.
Maintain social distance. This means you visit crowded places only when its highly essential. And when walking in the streets, maintain a safe distance with other
Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth. This is because incase you hands have been in contact with contaminated surfaces, when you touch these areas the virus is easily transferable because of the bodily fluids in these areas.
Practice respiratory hygiene. When you sneeze, use a handkerchief or the back of your hand and thereafter wash them.
Next time you see an Asian, don’t attack them because every person is vulnerable to the virus. And remember good personal hygiene keeps the doctor away!
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