Coronavirus: The Facts + How to Stay Virus Free

If you are like me you may be sick and tired of hearing about this bloomin' Coronavirus! I may be alone here but I think the world has gone mad. I hear from family in Australia that the supermarkets have run out of some canned goods and also toilet paper! Australia is likely to be extremely hard hit as it relies so much on China for everything. Here are some facts to put the Coronavirus threat into perspective (and hopefully make you sleep better at night - which will help you avoid it in the first place):

1. The symptoms of coronavirus are very similar to that of the flu - Headache, dry cough, fever and tiredness, and muscle pain. There seems to additionally be shortness of breath with the coronavirus. The virus seems to start with a fever, followed by a dry cough, and then after a week shortness of breath.
2. The incubation period for the virus (when somebody who is infected with it can spread it to others) seems to be 14 days, although some experts argue it could be as high as 24 days.
3. On current statistics - approximately 80% (4 out of 5) of people who are infected with the Coronavirus only experience mild symptoms (similar to that of a cold). Some people probably don't even recognise they have it. Approximately 14% of people become severely ill, and 6% become critically ill.
4. If you are young, fit and healthy you have very little risk of dying from the Coronavirus (I saw on the BBC news that the death rate in under 50s who are healthy is only around 0.8%). It also doesn't seem to have a high mortality rate amongst the very young (unlike the flu). The mortality rate rises significantly in older people and those with other underlying health conditions, such as asthma, heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Contrast this with the seasonal flu that infects approximately one billion people worldwide every year (!), with between 290,000 and 650,000 deaths (the severity of the flu changes every year).
5. Face masks are basically useless so don't bother. Face masks go as low as letting in particles around 0.3 microns in thickness. The virus is 0.1 microns. It would be impossible to design a mask to stop it as you would not be able to breathe and would die from suffocation anyway!
6. Antibiotics are useless too (same for the flu). Antibiotics work on germs and NOT viruses. I hope doctors worldwide are aware of this as we are heading for a major crises soon with antibiotics (where they stop working altogether - which would be far scarier that any coronavirus).
7. You can't catch the virus from your pets. Animals are not susceptible to it and scientists agree that it is highly unlikely it would jump so quickly from humans to dogs/cats after jumping from bats/snakes to humans.
8. The virus does not last long on surfaces and seems to be transmitted by close range coughing.
9. There is currently no vaccine but scientists are working on it. Don't hold your breath though as it may take up to 1-2 years to be available to the general public!

Tips on How to Stay Coronavirus Free

1. Stop shaking hands with people (elbow bump instead) and avoid touching your face or eyes unless you have washed your hands first.
2. Wash your hands after going to the toilet and before eating (this is basic hygiene that I know most of you do anyway). Ignore the rubbish out there that we need a few germs in our life. It's complete rubbish and if everybody in the world simply washed their hands we would have much lower incidents of disease in the world!
3. If you or any of your family cough or sneeze - you should cough into a tissue (or the inside of your elbow if you don't have a tissue) and dispose of it in the bin afterwards, then wash your hands. Oh how I wish I owned a tissue company!
4. Stay healthy so your immune system is in top shape. Eat loads of vegetables and low sugar fruits like frozen berries, lemons, limes etc. Look after your gut bacteria by washing off all hand sanitiser (with a normal non antibacterial soap) before eating food. Swallowing hand sanitiser can destroy your gut bacteria who are the good guys and keep you healthy. I would personally also take some zinc, vitamin D3/K2, and possibly some vitamin C. Avoid the junk food.
5. Get plenty of sleep. This is not the time to binge on Game of Thrones until 2am!
6. Cut back on the alcohol - it affects your sleep and also knocks your body around. Have a few days off the booze in between drinking days. This is general sound advice anyway!
7. Get plenty of exercise.
8. Meditate to stay calm and stop worrying about things you can't change. Meditation also boost your immune system.

Positives from the Coronavirus

1. We are very lucky that this potentially low risk virus has forced us to stay prepared for a far worse virus that may come in the future. We have been living on the gravy train for too long and SARS, MERs, Ebola and this new Coronavirus are our wake up call.
2. Think of the reduction in pollution and green house gases. We may yet reach that Paris climate change agreement target. The Earth is fighting back and will unleash far worse unless we start looking after her.
3. Look on the bright side about all the cheap package holidays to Sunny destinations that will be popping up now (-: Summer is also around the corner and (possibly) this may reduce the number of cases (hard to know as it's a new virus).