{"id":170,"date":"2020-03-10T11:14:35","date_gmt":"2020-03-10T11:14:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sisteranne.co.za\/?page_id=170"},"modified":"2020-07-04T11:00:16","modified_gmt":"2020-07-04T11:00:16","slug":"covid-19-and-the-coronavirus","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sisteranne.co.za\/?page_id=170","title":{"rendered":"Covid-19 and the Coronavirus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Now that there have been cases of Covid-19 identified in South Africa, it seems a good time to talk about it. To clarify, Covid-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as SARS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a lot of good advice available in the press and on\nthe Internet \u2013 here are a summary of my thoughts and recommendations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wash your hands\nfrequently<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regularly and thoroughly clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why?<\/strong> Washing your\nhands with soap and water or using alcohol-based hand rub kills viruses that\nmay be on your hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maintain social\ndistancing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maintain at least one metre distance between yourself and\nanyone who is coughing or sneezing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why?<\/strong> When someone\ncoughs or sneezes they spray small liquid droplets from their nose or mouth\nwhich may contain virus. If you are too close, you can breathe in the droplets,\nincluding the COVID-19 virus if the person coughing has the disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Avoid touching your eyes,\nnose and mouth<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why?<\/strong> Hands touch\nmany surfaces and can pick up viruses. Once contaminated, hands can transfer\nthe virus to your eyes, nose or mouth. From there, the virus can enter your\nbody and can make you sick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Practice respiratory\nhygiene<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make sure you, and the people around you, follow good respiratory hygiene. This means covering your mouth and nose with your bent elbow or tissue when you cough or sneeze. Then dispose of the used tissue immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why?<\/strong> Droplets\nspread virus. By following good respiratory hygiene, you protect the people\naround you from viruses such as cold, flu and COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Face Masks<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Face masks have become almost synonymous with the coronavirus outbreak overseas, but they don\u2019t do much to protect you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why?<\/strong> Most\nsurgical masks are too loose to prevent inhalation of the virus. Infectious\ndisease specialists do not recommend face masks if you\u2019re healthy. But if\nyou\u2019re a health care worker or are caring for sick people at home or in a\nhealth care facility, you should wear one. Also, if you\u2019re infected, masks can\nhelp prevent the spread of a virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have fever,\ncough and difficulty breathing, seek medical care early<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stay home if you feel unwell. If you have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical attention and call in advance. Follow the directions of your general practitioner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why?<\/strong> Calling in\nadvance will allow your health care provider to quickly direct you to the right\nhealth facility. This will also help to prevent possible spread of COVID-19 and\nother viruses. Stay informed and follow advice given by your healthcare\nprovider<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evaluate your Travel\nPlans<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are planning to travel outside South Africa check the status of Covid-19 in your planned destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why? <\/strong>All the\ncases currenlty logged in South Africa have arisen from an airline flight from\nan infected area of Italy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stay informed on the\nlatest developments. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Follow advice given by your healthcare provider, your\nnational health authority or your employer on how to protect yourself and\nothers from COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why?<\/strong> The National\nInstitute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has the most up to date information\non whether COVID-19 is spreading in your area. They are best placed to advise\non what people in your area should be doing to protect themselves. If you are\ngenuinely concerned, call the NICD\u2019s general public hotline at 0800-029-999,\nMonday to Friday, 8am to 4pm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be aware that over 80% of cases of Covid-19 are mild; people\nonly experience a slight fever, fatigue and a possible cough. According to the\nWorld Health Organisation (WHO), there may even be more asymptomatic cases.\nOnly about 6% of those infected need ICU care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vast majority of people can stay at home and get better without going near a hospital. Covid-19 is an illness that presents in a mild form and typically resolves spontaneously. But the disease is more serious for the elderly and those living with chronic diseases, who should definitely exercise extra precaution and vigilance. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Now that there have been cases of Covid-19 identified in South Africa, it seems a good time to talk about it. To clarify, Covid-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as SARS. There is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sisteranne.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/170"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sisteranne.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sisteranne.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sisteranne.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sisteranne.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=170"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sisteranne.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":206,"href":"https:\/\/sisteranne.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/170\/revisions\/206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sisteranne.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}