What is COVID-19? Everything you need to know about Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Nigeria.

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has taken the whole world by storm in recent weeks.Thousands are infected and the death toll of the disease has risen to thousands especially in hard-hit countries like China and Italy and even the United States.

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As at the time of publishing this article, worldometers.info reports that more than 417,000 people have been infected all over the world. About 108,000 persons who contracted the disease have recovered, while more than 18,600 persons have died. These figures change alarmingly, every day, so by the time you are reading this, it may have gone way up. Unfortunately.

Here in Nigeria so far, only 42 cases have been recorded. Two persons have recovered so far and one person has died.

As most of the countries of the world go on lock-down. There's panic everywhere, as people make efforts to get more information, learn more about the disease, and know how they can protect themselves and prevent the spread.

This is why we are putting up this article to educate you on the most important things you should know about the Coronavirus disease 2019 so you can better prepare and protect yourself, your family, your neighbors, and your community by learning how to prevent the spread of the disease.

Let's find out what this is all about.

What is COVID-19?

COVID-19 which is short for Coronavirus Disease 2019 is a respiratory disease that affects the respiratory system of infected persons.

The disease is caused by a type of Coronavirus known officially as SARS-COV-2, which is a new virus that was never in existence in the world until recently when it broke out in December 2019.

Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that are known to infect animals and cause different kinds of disease symptoms to them. Sometimes they get transferred from animals to human beings, where they can cause severe health problems.

How did the Coronavirus Disease originate?

The new Coronavirus originated in the open food market in Wuhan China, where the first outbreak was recorded as far back as December 2019.

It is believed that the virus must have been transferred from virus carriers like bats to living animals that are killed and sold fresh in Wuhan.

How is COVID-19 Coronavirus transmitted?

There are two ways the Coronavirus disease is spread or transmitted, let's talk about them.

1. Person to person

As a respiratory disease, the Coronavirus disease 2019 is transmitted person to person when droplets from the nose or mouth of an infected person -- especially when the person is already showing symptoms of the disease -- come in contact with someone.

When an infected person coughs or sneezes, he or she releases droplets that carry the virus and can transfer to people in close contact with the person.

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When a normal healthy person, gets exposed to these droplets, they are likely to contract the disease.

This is the most common way the virus is transmitted. We are still going to show you how you can protect yourself from getting infected.

2. Through contact with contaminated surfaces.

Another way the virus can be transmitted is through contact with infected surfaces, especially high touch surfaces like doorknobs, ATM machine keys, chairs, tables, etc, where an infected person must have touched and contaminated with unwashed hands or droplets from coughing and sneezing.

You can pick up the Coronavirus when you touch these surfaces and then unknowingly infect yourself after you touch your face, especially your mouths, nose, and eyes.

What is the incubation period of COVID-19?

Incubation period is the time it takes between exposure to the virus and when an infected person starts to show symptoms of the Coronavirus 2019 disease.

It takes between 2 to 14 days after exposure to the virus for people to start showing symptoms of the disease.

On average, people develop symptoms after 5 days of exposure to the virus.

This is why it is advised that people who suspect themselves being infected should self-isolated and watch out for the symptoms. This is a way to prevent the spread of the disease to others.

However, there are people who show no signs of the disease even though they are infected. These people are said to be asymptomatic, and they can still spread the disease.

So, if you think you might have been exposed to the virus, it is best to seek medical attention even if you are not showing the symptoms of the disease. This is because you could be spreading it without knowing.

What are the symptoms of COVID-19?

Here are the most common symptoms of COVID-19, coronavirus disease.

Fever
Dry cough that does not produce sputum
Difficulty in breathing that feels like pneumonia.
Body weakness
People sometimes observe sore throat, headaches, runny nose and sneezing, but this is not as common as the first 3 symptoms.

Who is Most at Risk of Coronavirus 2019 Disease?

Everyone is at risk of the Coronavirus disease. It doesn't matter if you're White or Black, young or old, rich or poor.

The disease affects even babies.

However, the risk of developing serious complications for the disease or even death is higher in older people, 60 years and above.

Especially those who have underlying health problems like diabetes, heart and lung diseases, or cancer.

People who take immunosuppressive drugs especially those undergoing chemotherapy and those with a weakened immune system are also at a greater risk of succumbing to the disease.

Now, let's talk about how to prevent the spread of the disease.

How Do You Prevent the Spread of COVID-19?

There are so many things you can do to protect yourself as well as prevent the spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019.

Here is the World Health Organization’s guideline for preventing the spread of the disease.

1. Wash your hands regularly

Wash your hands regularly with soap and running water. Use an alcohol-based hand-sanitizer if soap and water are out of reach. The hand-sanitizer you should be using should have between 60 to 75 percent alcohol, which is the concentration that is capable of killing the virus.

Washing your hands with soap and water or cleaning them with an alcohol hand-sanitizer is even more is highly important if you are a business person and is always coming in contact with people and money.

Why is this important?

Washing your hand with soap and water or cleaning your hands with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer helps kill the virus that may be on your hands.

2. Maintain Social Distancing

Keep at least a 2 meters (6 feet) distance between yourself and anyone who is coughing or sneezing. This is the established golden number by the American Center for Disease Control to prevent infection through viral particles which can spread from between 3 to 5 feet through respiratory droplets.

Why is this important?

Remember the Coronavirus disease is a respiratory infection that can be spread through droplets from infected persons. So, when someone coughs or sneezes they release small liquid droplets from their nose or mouth which may contain the virus. If you stay too close, you can breathe in the droplets, and get infected if the person has the disease.

3. Try not to touch your eyes, nose and mouth

This can be tempting, especially if you are already used to touching your face involuntarily, but try not to, so you don’t infect yourself.

Why is this important?

If you touch a place already contaminated with the virus, you can pick it up, and when and if you then touch your face, you would be transferring the virus to your nose, mouth and eyes from where they can easily enter your body and infect you.

4. Cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze

This is one of the most important respiratory hygiene practices you should adopt to prevent the spread of the disease to others. and it is not just you; the people around you should also practice good respiratory hygiene.

Use tissue paper to cover your nose and mouth when you sneeze or cough to avoid spraying droplets that may contain the virus, and then dispose the used tissue immediately after.

If tissue is not available, you can bend your elbow and cough or sneeze into it.

Don’t sneeze or cough into your palms as you are likely to use your contaminated hands to touch surfaces or even shake someone and then expose them to the virus.

5. Stay home if you feel sick and if you show the symptoms of the Coronavirus disease contact the NCDC (National Center for Disease Control)

If you feel sick, don’t go to work, or go out, stay home and observe your condition.

And if you show symptoms of the disease which includes, fever, dry cough and difficulty in breathing, you should call the NCDC without much delay. The number to call is listed below.

Why is this important?

The NCDC has the most up to date information on the situation on COVID-19. So, when you call them, listen and follow the directives they will give you to help you, and as well prevent the spread of the disease.

Follow this link for more details of the WHO guideline.

Other important things you can do to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus Disease.

Keep your home clean, use disinfectants to clean and wipe high-touch places and surfaces in your home especially if you’ve had visitors.
Avoid visiting old people at this time, this is because these people are more prone to the disease than normal healthy people.
Stop shaking hands with people to avoid getting infected with the virus through contaminated hands.
If you feel sick and have a need to go out, make sure to use a face mask to cover your mouth and nose, to prevent the spread of disease from you to others.

What should you do if you suspect you have COVID- 19?

Currently, in Nigeria, there are only a few ways you can get exposed to the Coronavirus.

You've recently traveled to or returned from a high-risk country either in Europe, Asia or America.
You were on the same flight with an already confirmed case.
You've come in contact with a confirmed case
You feel that you have indirectly been exposed to someone who has been in contact with a confirmed case.

When and if any of these applies to you, the best thing you can do for yourself and everyone is to go into self-isolation. While you observe yourself for symptoms over a period of 14 days.

If you develop any of the symptoms of the disease during this period, then you should contact the Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC) using the hotline: 08090001244 and follow their directives.

What would happen is that you are going to get tested for the virus and if you are positive, then you’d be quarantined, managed, and observed for further developments.

If the result comes out negative, then you are free but not safe.

You need to keep to the WHO guidelines for protection and prevention in order to be safe.

You should remember that at this point there's no vaccine for COVID-19.

However, scientists and researchers are working day and night on it. And while they are at it. the best thing you can do for yourself and everyone is to stay safe, follow the safety and prevention guidelines to protect yourself and everyone.

Be safe. And stay safe.

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