COVID-19: An Overview

Last update: March 29, 2020 (initial post)

The past few weeks have been a bit crazy for all of us. People are stuck at home, losing paychecks, losing jobs. People are getting sick, some are dying. The hospitals are getting overwhelmed. Troubling times for sure. I’ve hesitated a bit to write about the COVID-19 coronavirus here because it’s new and our knowledge of it (and recommendations) are changing rapidly. But here is an overview of what I think is the most pertinent information we have currently.

HOARD ALL THE TOILET PAPER YOU CAN POSSIBLE GET YOUR HANDS ON. IT PRACTICALLY REPELS THE CORONAVIRUS. 

Just Kidding. THAT WAS A LIE AND A JOKE.

A quick little nugget: You don’t HAVE to use toilet paper at all. You can use many things to wipe with, just don’t flush it. And make sure it’s not poision ivy/oak if you’re going the natural route 😊 Many people actually prefer to clean themselves with a bare hand and water. WHATEVER YOU USE, you should ALWAYS wash your hands after. Oh, there’s also a thing called a bidet, and it will change your world 😳

What is COVID-19? 

Imagine a teacup poodle. It’s a specific type of poodle which is a specific type of dog. Likewise, COVID-19 is a specific type of coronavirus, which is a specific type of virus. If you want to know more about what viruses are and what they do, go read this post where we establish that viruses are essentially zombie pirates. If viruses are zombie pirates, COVID-19 is Zombie Blackbeard. 

So, coronaviruses in general are usually harmless and you have probably “caught” them many times. The worst they can do is give you a mild cold. However, sometimes a really nasty one shows up and hurts a lot of people (e.g. SARS, MERS, etc). COVID-19 is one of these nasty ones. 

Technically COVID-19 is the name of the illness that’s caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. But SARS-CoV-2 doesn’t really roll off the tongue so we will let that technicality go and just call it the COVID-19 virus. 👍

How do you get it? 

COVID-19, like many viruses, enters your body most commonly via your mouth, nose, or eyes. It exits your body via respiratory droplets. You know the “spray” that happens when you cough or sneeze? It’s in that. Once outside, though, COVID-19 can also survive for certain amounts of time on different surfaces, just waiting for you to come by and touch it! But again, you don’t get it by just touching. The virus needs to make its way to your face, which is highly likely if you’ve touched it.

COVID-19 is also found and spread through feces. That means wash your hands soon (and thoroughly) after using any restroom, even your own. And routinely sanitize any possibly related surfaces.

So, say a few hours ago an infected person coughed while pumping gas. Some of that landed on the gas pump handle or the number pad. Now you’re using the same pump and your nose itches so you scratch it. Now that pirate virus is infiltrating your respiratory tract and pillaging your cells. It’s that easy. 

The good news is, most regular household cleaners/disinfectants kill COVID-19, including most hand sanitizers (needs more than 60% alcohol). 

So, in summary, you get it by:

• infected people coughing/sneezing on you
• not washing your hands
• touching your face
• not cleaning surfaces routinely
• not washing your hands again

Honestly, washing your hands thoroughly and frequently and refraining from touching your face is the best thing you can do to not “catch” the virus. But we all touch our faces all the time, even when we don’t think we do. So this is a great time to practice not touching your face, which is always a great habit to have. 

Who does it affect?

Well, everyone. But, similar to other viruses it tends to be much more severe in people older than 64 and anyone with certain medical problems. Such as those who:

• smoke
• have asthma
• have COPD
• have high blood pressure
• have diabetes
• have hepatitis (liver disease)
• have cancer
• have kidney disease
• have a damaged immune system

*Not a complete list*

So, basically it’s worse for older people and people who already have significant medical problems. 

Also, some good news is it doesn’t usually seem to be very serious for children or people younger than 30 unless they have underlying medical issues such as those above. That doesn’t mean they don’t need to worry about it though. 

What are the symptoms? 

Alright, I had typed out a big section on the symptoms, but I chose to delete it all and just say this. You may have COVID-19 and have no symptoms. You also may have all the symptoms, but not have COVID-19. It can look like a lot of different things. 

My point is you can’t tell if someone has COVID-19 or not by the symptoms. Some places online will list certain symptoms as indicating you have COVID-19, but if you have certain other symptoms it’s not COVID-19. I personally think that’s misleading and unwise. Here’s the short and sweet of it…

COVID-19 is a coronavirus so it typically looks like a cold (runny nose, low fever, cough, sore throat, etc). It has potential to be a lot worse though (trouble breathing, high fever, chest tightness/pain, etc), and there are also reports of some weird symptoms (diarrhea, stomach pain, loss of smell/taste, etc). The only way to really tell if you have COVID-19 is an official test by a healthcare facility. So, if you feel like you’re getting sick, with any symptoms, call your doctor. However, just because you have some of the symptoms doesn’t mean you need to come get tested. The real question we ask is, “Is it worth knowing if you have COVID-19 or not?”

So, who needs to get tested? 

If you’re young and otherwise healthy and begin having some basic cold symptoms, you do not need to get tested. Just stay home. Remember, there’s still a decent chance it’s just an average run-of-the-mill cold (or the flu). If you begin to have severe symptoms, then you should start seeking testing and more importantly, treatment. People older than 64 or those that already have health issues should be quicker to be tested if they develop any symptoms. Remember, the test itself does nothing to help you get better. If you’re young and healthy, the results of the test don’t really matter if your symptoms are mild. You’re going to treat it the same regardless. 

The test is more important for those who develop severe symptoms or those who have high potential to develop severe symptoms. That way we can know how bad their illness might get for them and prepare accordingly. This is especially important because we only have a limited number of tests currently. Ideally, there’s no shortage of tests so we don’t have to ration them like we currently do. If there are enough tests in the future, we may begin to test people that have been in contact with someone with COVID-19 in order to selectively quarantine them. However, we are not able to do that at this time. That’s why the recommendation is that everyone quarantine themselves.

Think of it this way. Imagine two guys need to cross a river but only one is allowed to know the depth and width of the river. The first guy has a pretty new boat. He doesn’t care how wide or deep the river is; he’s going to do the same thing to get across regardless. He has a low risk for drowning. The second guy’s boat is older and has a few leaks. It matters a lot to him how deep and wide this river is as there’s a decent chance things could get real bad, real quick for him. So he needs the information more. 

At the end of the day if you feel that you may need to get tested, don’t hesitate to call a medical facility and they will be able to give you appropriate guidance. 

I think I might have it, what should I do? 

Most importantly, if you are having severe or rapidly worsening symptoms seek medical help immediately. Call your doctor, call your urgent care, call the hospital, and don’t be afraid to call 911 if you need help RIGHT NOW. This is nothing new, COVID-19 or not, this is ALWAYS what you should do. 

Just don’t call 911 if you’re 21 years old, healthy, have a mild runny nose, coughed one time, and heard someone sneeze in a store last month (yes, it happens). There’s being cautious and then there’s panicking. Be cautious, don’t panic. 

If you think you might have COVID-19, were likely exposed to it, but you’re not having any severe symptoms, stay put at home (family too). Then call your doctor or other medical facility for their guidance. Call first. Don’t go straight to the doctor’s office, urgent care, ER, etc. because one of two things will happen. #1: You have the virus and will give it to other people that are at that medical facility. #2: You didn’t have the virus, but now you do because option #1 showed up while you were there. 

Finally, I’m not going to give you any specific medical advice here. I am not going to tell you how to determine if you have COVID-19 or how to treat it. That’s not the point of this blog. Whether you think you may have coronavirus or not, here’s the bottom line:

Let’s all work together to “flatten the curve” by following your local quarantine guidelines. More info about social distancing and quarantine here. 

P.S. Wearing gloves and masks is great, but I fear that the general public trusts them too much, giving them a false sense of security.

Learn more, stay humble