Will I die if I get the coronavirus?
Officials estimate the death rate for the virus to be around 3-4% globally, based on the information they have, though they expect that number to fall.
The disease can be fatal but those cases are rarer.
For those with a weakened immune system, the elderly and the very young, there’s a chance the virus could cause a much more serious respiratory tract illness like pneumonia or bronchitis.
Can kids get the coronavirus?
While most confirmed cases of the virus have occurred in adults, children have been infected too. Learn more about how to keep them safe.
Anyone of any age can get the new coronavirus, though older people and those with pre-existing medical conditions appear to be more vulnerable to serious infections.
Can heat kill the coronavirus?
Hand dryers can’t kill the virus, according to WHO. The organization also says that UV lamps shouldn’t be used to sterilize hands or other areas of the body because the radiation can irritate skin.
Drinking hot water or taking hot baths won’t kill it either.
President Donald Trump has previously suggested that heat kills the virus and that because of this, the current outbreak will have dissipated by spring.
But public health experts say there’s no way to know this.
Can coronavirus go through skin and into the body?
“It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads,” the CDC says.
More often than not, people get coronavirus through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
“These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs,” the CDC says.
I’ve heard that black people can’t get coronavirus.
Anyone can get coronavirus.
Any person who comes into close contact with someone who is infected is at risk for contracting the virus, according to the CDC.
Take it from Dr. Jennifer Caudle, an African American family medicine physician and on-air health expert who has also been debunking coronavirus myths. Caudle said she worries that some people may not take proper precautions to protect themselves against the virus because they may have heard this myth.
“Black people can get coronavirus, just like other people,” she told CNN.
Look no further than Africa, where the pandemic is gaining a foothold. So far, the virus hasn’t spread in Africa as quickly as it has on some other continents. But numbers there are rising fast.
The flu infects a lot more people and kills a lot more Americans than coronavirus. So why is everyone so worried about coronavirus?
It’s true, about 20,000 Americans have died from the flu since October, according to CDC estimates. Nationwide, the flu has infected about 34 million.
Coronavirus has killed at least 38 Americans since February and infected more than 1,200 nationwide. As of now, the coronavirus mortality rate is higher than that of the flu.
“The thing about this disease, though, is that there’s a difference in the experience of coronavirus if you’re young and healthy vs. if you’re older and if you have chronic disease,” epidemiologist Dr. Abdul El-Sayed said.
There’s a “very high mortality rate – one in six – among people who are over 80 and people with underlying chronic disease,” he said.
And while a flu shot is available, about half of Americans don’t get vaccinated – including most children who die from the flu.
There is no vaccine available for coronavirus.
Can you get coronavirus through food?
There is no evidence to support that coronavirus is transmitted through food, the CDC says. It’s generally thought to be spread from person-to-person through respiratory droplets.
“In general, because of poor survivability of these coronaviruses on surfaces, there is likely very low risk of spread from food products or packaging that are shipped over a period of days or weeks at ambient, refrigerated, or frozen temperatures.”
I’ve heard that home remedies can cure or prevent the virus.
There’s no evidence from the outbreak that eating garlic, sipping water every 15 minutes or taking vitamin C will protect people from the new coronavirus. Same goes for using essential oils, colloidal silver and steroids.
Some posts have suggested that putting sesame oil on your body or spraying yourself with alcohol or chlorine will kill the virus. That’s also false.
There are some chemical disinfectants, including bleach, 75% ethanol, peracetic acid and chloroform, that may kill the virus on surfaces. But if the virus is already in your body, putting those substances on your skin or under your nose won’t kill it – and can actually be dangerous.
And this should go without saying, but do not ingest chemical disinfectants either.
Can I get coronavirus from a package sent from China?
No. “The new coronavirus cannot be transmitted through goods manufactured in China or any country reporting Covid-19 cases,” the World Health Organization says.
“Even though the new coronavirus can stay on surfaces for a few hours or up to several days (depending on the type of surface), it is very unlikely that the virus will persist on a surface after being moved, travelled, and exposed to different conditions and temperatures,” WHO said.
Again, the best way to prevent transmission is thoroughly washing your hands and disinfecting surfaces with EPA-approved products.
Should I avoid Chinese, Korean or Italian people?
No. Not everyone in a certain demographic is at risk for coronavirus.
And social stigmas often cause more harm than good – whether they’re directed at a nationality or at a profession, like health care workers.
“Stigma affects the emotional or mental health of stigmatized groups and the communities they live in,” the CDC says. “Stopping stigma is important to making communities and community members resilient.”
Already, we’ve seen damaging fallout from coronavirus stigmas. Chinese-American businesses have been devastated financially, and restaurant workers have been laid off.
