Nigeria is a country characterized by different events every day of the week especially our Saturdays, there is virtually no Saturday without wedding rice! But right now, even if the president organizes a party for everyone to come freely, no one will go! Guess the reason, well you guessed right, it’s as a result of the new strain of coronavirus in the world called Covid-19 which has turned every one to lovers of their homes.

Coronaviruses are actually a family of zoonotic viruses within the Nidovirus superfamily that are capable of causing illness ranging from the common cold to severe respiratory disease, coronavirus has actually been here since the 1960s and different strains have been discovered in between the 11960s and 2019. Zoonotic means it can be transferred from animals or humans. There are seven strains that are known, four of which causes mild symptoms of common cold, the four are:

1. Human Coronavirus HKU1
2. Human Coronavirus OC43
3. Human Coronavirus 229E
4. Human Coronavirus NL63

They also cause three symptoms that are quite severe:

1. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome– related Coronavirus which can be called MERS-CoV was discovered in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and it was believed to have originated through bats and transferred to camels and humans got infected through direct or indirect contact with dromedary camels.
2. Severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus also called SARS-CoV causes an often-severe illness which is marked initially by systemic symptoms of muscle pain, headache and fever and accompanied in 2-14 days by the beginning of respiratory symptoms like cough, pneumonia. It was found to be transmitted from civet cats to humans
3. Severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 which is called SARS-COV 2. It causes the infamous Covid19 disease.

In December 2019, Wuhan in China recorded a pneumonia outbreak in China which was traced to have been caused by a strain of coronavirus and it was given the name ” Novel Coronavirus 2019 ” by World Health Organization ( WHO ) before it was later renamed by International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses as SARS-CoV-2 and I will be dividing this segment to smaller parts to enhance better understanding of the disease.

Differences in Their Symptoms

The difference between MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV might be the way they are written but for SARS-CoV-2, a defining difference between it and the other aforementioned symptoms is that it can be easily transmitted through human to human contact, this is because it is mostly carried within droplets emitted from an infected person; that means if Mr A is infected with this virus and his body droplets enter Mr B’s body via sneezing, coughing and other ways, Mr B could get infected with the virus too.

This is one of the major reasons why Covid-19 is spreading across the globe like wildfire as the symptoms look like that of the common cold. On this note, I draw the curtain on this segment.

Symptoms of Coronavirus (Covid-19)

Symptoms mean the signs and the tell tales that could actually show us someone has the disease and it includes dry cough, fever, tiredness, aches, pains, runny nose, sore throat, nasal congestion, diarrhoea and others.

A lot of these symptoms seem to be symptoms of the common cold but do not be deceived if you are feeling any of these symptoms, you need to reduce your contact with other individuals because it could actually be the infamous Covid-19.

The symptoms develop slowly and gradually over a period of 14 days so it’s possible for someone to have it and not feel the symptoms for some days. Also, some people do not feel any of these symptoms and are still infected with the virus, these sets of people are called ASYMPTOMATIC victims which means victims without symptoms.

Since it’s mostly transmitted through droplets, these asymptomatic victims don’t usually spread the disease since they are not releasing droplets through coughs, sneezes e.t.c.

Mostly and normally, most people are supposed to recover from the disease without treatments but this hasn’t really been the case because a lot of patients with Covid19 become seriously ill and have difficulty in breathing. Let’s take a quick bus to our next segment.

Susceptibility to Coronavirus (Covid-19)

Even though everyone is prone to the disease, some set of people are more susceptible to the disease than others and this includes older people and other people with some underlying medical conditions.

That means a 60-year-old man and an asthmatic patient are more prone to severe illness as a result of this disease than a young child. Get some popcorn and a glass of wine as we take a ride to segment D

How Coronavirus (Covid-19) Spreads And Prevention

Since it’s carried via respiratory droplets, it can be spread via respiratory droplets expelled by someone who is coughing or exhales, when these droplets drop on objects or surfaces, humans then catch it by touching these objects or surfaces and subsequently touching their mouth, nose or eyes.

It can also be transmitted by breathing in droplets from an infected person and that’s why it’s important to stay more than a meter away for anyone who’s sick or better still, stay at home, you don’t know who is sick or not.

As we all know, prevention is better than cure so I will be listing some ways to prevent this disease:

• Personal Hygiene can’t be overemphasized; this is the time you need to wash your hands more often as the virus can thrive on the human body for some hours. So, wash your hands frequently so that viruses on it can be washed away before you touch your mouth, nose or eyes.
• Try as much as possible to avoid touching your mouth, nose and eyes, it might seem easy but it’s not, try your possible best, the virus could be on your hands for HOURS!
• Use hand sanitizers before and after you touch surfaces, on your phones, and other things you touch frequently. Use hand sanitizers frequently and make sure the hand sanitizer is ALCOHOL based.
• Drink a lot of water so that if at all the virus enters your mouth, it is washed down to the stomach where it is killed by stomach’s acid. Drink water every fifteen minutes.
• Gargle a lot, salt and warm water will do
• Practice:

(i) Social distancing- avoid social gatherings as much as possible if you haven’t been exposed to the virus, do this indefinitely.

(ii) Self isolation- if you have the virus or think you have it in Nigeria, call the hot line @080097000010, listen to these instructions and stay at home ALONE so as to reduce the spread.

(iii) Self quarantine- If you have been in contact with someone that has the virus or has travelled recently, stay at home for a minimum of 14 days, watch out for the symptoms, with no direct contact with people.

• Use tissues when you want to touch objects and surfaces and dispose of the tissues immediately after use.
• Stop hugging, shaking or having bodily contacts with people.
• Use face masks only if you have been exposed to the virus and need to go out (to the doctor) or you are medical personnel as it could expose you to the virus if used wrongly.
• Keep yourself abreast of the latest information on the disease, inform people around you and seek medical attention if you feel sick.
• Reduce your visits to the hospitals.
• Stay at home.

Cure for Coronavirus (Covid-19)

As of now, there is no vaccine for Covid19 but there are ongoing clinic@l trials that include both traditional and Western medicine.

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Coronavirus: Effect on The Economy

In containing this disease, the economy has been slowed down as a lot of companies are folding up and this has cascaded into a full-blown shock simultaneously affecting both demand and supply as visible in the very weak January-February readings of industrial production and retail sales, it has affected the economy globally as it is now in 6 continents with over 200 countries affected.

In conclusion, the best thing to do is to STAY AT HOME. While doing that, you can learn a new skill online, take online courses, watch movies, listen to music, drink water, reduce your contacts with others and mind your business.