Take it seriously, but don’t panic. The disease is highly contagious and poses a lethal risk primarily to the elderly, the immune deficient, and folks with other underlying conditions, such as chronic heart disease.
Symptoms include fever, dry cough, fatigue, and shortness of breath. If you are feeling sick and are not in one of the high risk categories, please stay home and do all the things you usually do for a cold or flu. In young, healthy people, the Wuhan Coronavirus is usually just a bad cold.
The disease is contagious before symptoms are present, so to avoid catching it in the first place, limit exposure to other people. If you must go out, avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth until you can thoroughly wash your hands. If you must go out and are in a high risk category, wear a mask. They are thought to help reduce your risk and, if nothing else, they make it impossible to touch your nose or mouth!
If you must cough or sneeze, do it into your elbow, not your hand. Viruses transfer readily from hands to surfaces, where they can survive long enough to transfer to other hands.
The head of the Chinese Coronavirus Task Force says Vitamin C is proving helpful both for preventing and for treating the disease. Personally, we are upping our intake from our usual 1,000 mg per day to 2,000 mg per day until flu season ends.
Pay attention to what your state leaders and local news outlets are saying about what’s going on in your area.
And if you aren’t sick, don’t ask to be tested. People who are sick need those test kits.
Also, stop hoarding stuff or, worse, stealing stuff from hospitals! Sheesh.
If you know someone who is in a high risk category, give them a ring and ask if they need you to get them anything at the store. The less they go out, the better.
If you have any questions, you can call the CDC at 1-800-CDC-INFO or go to https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.
