Sars-CoV-2 Archives - Foreign policy

How to Get Tested for Coronavirus?

Published on April 15, 2020

If everyone were allowed to test, there would be no tests. Scientists around the world are currently working harder than ever to perform enough tests on the coronavirus.

The coronavirus pandemic has caused increased production of tests that are the only way for patients to find out if they are infected.

However, as you have noticed, no country allows anyone to be tested, and it is exact in determining who will be tested and who will not.

Who doesn’t need testing?

For those who have no symptoms of the virus, i.e., fever, cough, and shortness of breath should call a doctor. Even if they have returned from a destination where the coronavirus is present or in contact with the infected person, they show no symptoms. Mandatory self-isolation is then recommended as a significant prevention measure that is more important than the test itself.

If, however, you are symptomatic and you are under the age of 70, you may not even get the chance to get tested right away, but the test itself will not change the fact that doctors will take care of you.

Doctors said their advice to young, healthy people with fever and coughing would be the same no matter what causes them – they will send you home in self-isolation, recommend plenty of fluids. You will only receive hospital care if you develop shortness of breath.

After recovery, you will also stay away from other people whether the disease is due to a virus corona or someone else.

Who needs testing?

Anyone who has symptoms after having been in close contact with someone positive for the coronavirus should get tested.

Anyone who has the symptoms of a virus corona and should be hospitalized must take the test. However, everyone hopes that these categories will change as well when we have more tests available.

But it’s not just about the availability of tests.

Doctors and nurses need to have personal protective equipment to perform the test, and since these are lacking everywhere in the world, doctors want to preserve it for those who need testing more.

According to current estimates, staying alone in a risk area is not sufficient to justify the test. And not everyone with a runny nose or cough is infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

However, those who have signs of viral pneumonia, which have noticeable symptoms such as coughing, fever, and shortness of breath, or who have had contact with an infected person should contact the hospital or local ambulance. People who have been in a particularly affected area are cases that are reasonably suspected that they were infected with a new virus.

Finally, the doctor decides whether a test for the coronavirus is done.

Finally, if everyone got the test, it would overload the system. Once done, the analysis is carried to the laboratory. The more criteria, the more people have to do them. And then someone has to call patients and report the results, which involves a large number of people who currently have to be available for other essential things.

What is the Meaning of COVID-19, and Why is That the Term for Coronavirus?

Published on April 13, 2020April 12, 2020

Coronavirus

The virus that caused the pandemic is called COVID-19, but did you know why?

The new coronavirus, which was named COVID-19, was named by the World Health Organization in February, which represents the abbreviation of Sickness from Corona Virus discovered in 2019, since the first case of this decrease was reported on December 31 in 2019.

At the same time, the World Health Organization, which has also announced the official name of the coronavirus that causes this disease, the SARS-CoV-2. It was named because it is a genetic relative of SARS-CoV, a virus that caused the epidemic in 2003, and the disease it causes has remained remembered as SARS.

There are many methods that this world organization is using to name various deceases. Some of them are:

Names should be short and easily spoken;
Combination of various generic descriptions of the sickness;
Avoid of professional phrases;
Adding the name of a well-known pathogen that causes the disease;

There are also some other ways of naming viruses and other diseases, like words that sound like a warning, geographic terms, name of animals or food, name of some industry, or name of the people who discovered it first.

What COVID-19 Really Means or How the Virus Got Its Name

Published on April 11, 2020April 11, 2020

Coronavirus

The recently appeared Coronavirus is responsible for the global pandemic of COVID-19. The WHO gave it a name back in February. COVID-19 is short for “The Illness of Corona Virus 2019”. The reason is that the first case of this uncharacteristic pneumonia was reported on the 31. December 2019 in Wuhan, China. However, there are some doubts that this virus was around even before the start of this pandemic.

At the same time, WHO published the official name of the virus SARS-CoV-2. It was named like that since this virus is a genetic cousin of SARS-CoV who was responsible for the pandemic back in 2003. Yet, that virus was remembered only as a SARS, which is short for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

How WHO Gives a Name to the Illness?

WHO has three rules when it comes to giving a name to a new illness or virus. Now we are going to present them to you:

They need to be short and easily spoken
Can present a combination of a descriptive word (like respiratory) and with the condition (like progressive)
It’s preferred to have everyday language instead of technical
If the pathogen who causes the illness is known, it needs to be included in the name

Naturally, there are rules of what should not be included:

Words that cause fear (like fatal)
Countries of geographical terms
Animals or items
Human names
Terms connected to certain industries or jobs

These rules are not strictly followed sometimes. Therefore, we have terms like Bird Flu (Avian Influenza), Spanish Flu, MRSA infection, Legionella Pneumophila, etc.

When will the Coronavirus Vaccine be Ready?

Published on March 16, 2020

Health

Even the most rigorous containment strategies have only slowed down the spread of the respiratory disease Covid-19.

The World Health Organization finally declared a pandemic, and everyone is concerned about the vaccine since only it can stop making people sick.

About 35 companies and academic institutions are trying to create such a vaccine, and at least four of them already have candidates started testing in animals. Boston-based biotech firm Moderna produces the first of these. It will begin with human trials in April.

This fast speed is largely thanks to early Chinese efforts to sequence the genetic material of Sars-CoV-2. That is the virus which causes Covid-19.

China shared their knowledge in early January and allowed research groups around the world to grow the live virus and study how it manages to invade the human cells.

“The speed with which we have [produced these candidates] builds very much on the investment in understanding how to develop vaccines for other coronaviruses,” said Richard Hatchett, CEO of the Oslo-based nonprofit the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (Cepi).

Coronaviruses have caused two other epidemics, the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) in China in 2002-04, and also the Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers). It started in Saudi Arabia in 2012.

Sars-CoV-2 shares around 80% and 90% of its genetic material with the virus, which caused Sars. They both consist of a strip of ribonucleic acid (RNA), which is located inside a spherical protein capsule. That capsule is covered in spikes.

Clinical trials usually take place in three phases. The first involves a few healthy volunteers, tests the vaccine for safety, and monitors for adverse effects. The second one involves several hundred people, usually in a part of the world that is affected by the disease and looks at how effective the vaccine is. The third phase is the same, but it is done on several thousand people.