Corona Virus
Foto: amrothman / Pixabay

Corona virus: The most important answers to your questions

CURRENT INFO: At the moment many events are being cancelled and facilities are being closed where many people can meet. For example, since 11 March 2020, in Ludwigshafen the city administration's housing benefit department, the city library and all open children's and youth facilities in the city have been closed until further notice. Please be reasonable, do not go to any event if you feel ill, and follow the rules of hygiene.

Mannheim, Ludwigshafen and Heidelberg have set up special information pages with all local news about protection against the corona virus:

And now the most important answers to your questions about the corona virus:

What is the Corona virus?

The corona virus is a pathogen that triggers the new disease COVID-19. The disease can have similar symptoms to influenza: a runny nose, dry cough, sore throat, fatigue, aching limbs.

If you are infected with normal flu viruses, you will suddenly and quickly get a fever. With the corona virus it is different: at the beginning the disease progresses slowly and feels more like a cold.

Good to know: Viruses can already be in the body without the disease having broken out. The time until you actually become ill is called the incubation period. With corona, the incubation period can last up to 14 days. Therefore people who have had contact with a sick person are quarantined and isolated from other people as much as possible, e.g. in hospital or simply at home. This is to prevent more and more people becoming infected.

Where does the corona virus come from?

The corona virus has been around for some time. Originally, only animals were infected with the virus. Then the virus changed and humans could be infected as well. That happens often. In 2002 and 2003, for example, many people from the corona virus family contracted SARS.

Now the virus has changed in another way. Because it is nevertheless very similar to the SARS corona virus, it has been given its own name: SARS-CoV-2. And because the altered virus causes a new disease, it has also been given its own name: COVID-19. The name is made up of the words Corona Virus Desease. The 19 at the end of the name stands for the year in which the disease was discovered (2019).

The new corona virus was discovered at the end of 2019 in Wuhan, a very large city in df. Since then, the disease has been spreading.

How dangerous is the corona virus?

Most of the time everything is not so bad: doctors say that 80% of the cases of illness are harmless. Experts of the Robert Koch Institute suspect that between 0.3% and 2.5% of all infected persons die. There are various factors that can influence these figures: For example, how the country's healthcare system is set up. The health system in Germany considers itself to be well positioned. The age of a patient is also an important risk factor: from the age of 50, for example, the probability of a serious course of the disease increases.

Corona: How can I get infected?

It is not yet 100% certain how the virus can be transmitted from person to person. Experts believe that the virus spreads by droplet infection. This means that someone coughs or sneezes on another person directly. Perhaps the disease can also be transmitted via direct physical contact. Therefore, it is best not to shake the hand of a person who has previously been picking his nose. :)

The good news is that corona viruses do not survive long alone in the environment outside a body. They are killed, for example, by UV radiation from sunlight. So far, no infections have been detected simply from the environment.

How can I protect myself from the corona virus?

There is no complete protection. But good hygiene helps! That is why these things are especially important now:

  • Do not shake hands when greeting
  • Wash your hands! Regularly and thoroughly, at least 20-30 seconds, especially
    • When you come home
    • Before and while you cook food
    • Before a meal
    • After visiting the toilet
    • After blowing your nose, sneezing, coughing
    • Before and after contact with sick people
    • After contact with animals
  • Keep your hands out of your face
  • Keep a distance of 1 to 2 metres to coughing and sneezing people
  • Cough and sneeze into your arm (instead of into your hand or into the air)
  • Protect wounds
  • Keep your home dust-free
  • Wash laundry hot (60°C minimum)
  • Deal with food hygienically
  • Air your rooms regularly

Are there already drugs against the corona virus?

No. It's not easy to fight viruses. There are some drugs that help against specific and individual types of viruses. But not yet against the corona virus.

Good to know: As with all viruses, antibiotics won't help because they only work against bacteria.

Will disinfectants, breathing masks or a normal mask protect me?

Seldomly. Many of these products are currently not or only very expensive to buy. But normally you do not need them either.

Most disinfectants that you can buy in drugstores are ineffective against viruses. Exception: the word "virucidal" is written on the packaging. This means that it kills viruses.

Please note: Disinfecting the hands kills all bacteria on the skin. That may sound very good at first. But many bacteria are produced by ourselves in our bodies. We need them to stay healthy. If you disinfect your hands and your skin often, your skin will dry out quickly and you can get sick faster.

Most breathing masks do not protect against infection. Only masks with filter strength "FFP3" can stop viruses. These masks are very uncomfortable. And as I said, you cannot buy them right now or only at very high prices.

A mouth protection does not really help either: only sick people should wear mouth protection so that their own viruses do not spread so quickly when they cough or sneeze and infect other people.

What to do if you are afraid that you yourself are infected?

We wrote this down for you.: COVID-19: What to do in case of cold, cough & fear of corona virus?

 

Infografik 10 Hygienetipps auf Englisch
Quelle: Bundeszentrale für gesundheitliche Aufklärung (BZgA), infektionsschutz.de, https://www.infektionsschutz.de/mediathek/infografiken.html, CC BY-NC-ND

 

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