{"id":27092,"date":"2020-03-05T16:25:08","date_gmt":"2020-03-05T14:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pricecheck.co.za\/blog\/?p=27092"},"modified":"2020-03-05T18:35:14","modified_gmt":"2020-03-05T16:35:14","slug":"coronavirus-everything-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/blog\/coronavirus-everything-you-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Coronavirus: Everything South Africans Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"

The coronavirus outbreak has been front-page news for a while now, bringing awareness and concern around the infection. But, what exactly is the coronavirus and what precautions should you take?<\/p>\n

What is it?<\/h3>\n

While scientists have discovered a tremendous amount of information about past and present viruses in the world, the coronavirus is still a relatively ‘new’ epidemic. Generally speaking, though, a\u00a0coronavirus\u00a0is a kind of common virus that causes an infection in your nose,\u00a0sinuses, or upper throat. Most coronaviruses are not dangerous.<\/p>\n

However, the current outbreak seems to be a new strand of coronavirus, 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).<\/p>\n

The World Health Organisation is working closely with global experts, governments and partners to rapidly expand scientific knowledge on this new virus, to track the spread and virulence of the virus, and to provide advice to countries and individuals on measures to protect health and prevent the spread of this outbreak.<\/p>\n

Where is it most prominent?<\/h3>\n

China is the country which seems to be at the core of the current outbreak. However, cases have been recorded in Taiwan, Germany, Vietnam, Japan, Italy, France and the United States, with all cases involving patients who had not<\/strong> been to China. The worldwide death toll (at the time of writing) is 3,311<\/a>,\u00a0with 96,979 confirmed cases in 87 countries and territories.<\/p>\n

The first case of the coronavirus has officially been confirmed in South Africa<\/a> with\u00a0Health Minister Zweli Mkhize confirming that\u00a0South Africa was working with the WHO and other institutions to help diagnose the virus, called COVID-19, across Africa.<\/p>\n

South Africa’s announcement that a case of coronavirus has been confirmed in the country makes it the third sub-Saharan country to report the infection. Senegal has reported one case, while Nigeria has reported four, to date.<\/p>\n

What can you do about it?<\/h3>\n

The symptoms and signs of the coronavirus can be quite subtle (coughing, sore throat, etc), unless the coronavirus infection spreads to the lower respiratory tract (your windpipe and your\u00a0lungs). This can cause\u00a0pneumonia, especially in older people, people with\u00a0heart disease, or people with weakened immune systems.<\/p>\n

As a precautionary measure, one could get lab tests, including nose and throat cultures and\u00a0blood\u00a0work in order to find out whether your cold was caused by a coronavirus, but there’s no reason to. The test results wouldn’t change how you treat your symptoms, which typically go away in a few days unless they’re severe.<\/section>\n
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What to Do About Coronavirus<\/h2>\n

There is no\u00a0vaccine\u00a0for coronavirus. To help prevent a coronavirus infection, do the same things you do to avoid the\u00a0common cold:<\/p>\n