Dear Editor,
Re: Avoiding Coronavirus
Last week dining out with friends, one of their uncles, who’s graduated with a master’s degree and who worked in Shenzhen Hospital (Guangdong Province, China) sent him the following notes on Coronavirus for guidance:
1. If you have a runny nose and sputum, you have a common cold.
2. Coronavirus pneumonia is a dry cough with no runny nose.
3. This new virus is not heat-resistant and will be killed by a temperature of just 26/27 degrees. It hates the sun.
4. If someone sneezes with it, it takes about 10 feet before it drops to the ground and is no longer airborne.
5. If it drops on a metal surface it will live for at least 12 hours – so if you come into contact with any metal surface – wash your hands as soon as you can with a bacterial soap.
6. On fabric it can survive for 6-12 hours, however normal laundry detergent will kill it.
7. Drinking warm water is effective for all viruses. Try not to drink liquids with ice. 8. Wash your hands frequently as the virus can only live on your hands for 5-10 minutes, but a lot can happen during that time, you can rub your eyes, pick your nose unwittingly and so on.
9. You should also gargle as a prevention. A simple solution of salt in warm water will suffice.
10. Can’t emphasise enough – drink plenty of water!
The Symptoms
1. It will first infect the throat, so you’ll have a sore throat lasting 3 or 4 days.
2. The virus then blends into a nasal fluid that enters the trachea and then the lungs, causing pneumonia. This takes about 5 or 6 days further.
3. With the pneumonia comes high fever and difficulty in breathing.
4. The nasal congestion is not like the nor- mal kind. You feel like you’re drowning. It’s imperative you then seek immediate attention.
Regards
Robert Sherwood Perth,
Western Australia