{"id":8457,"date":"2020-02-05T18:00:56","date_gmt":"2020-02-05T10:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/?p=8457"},"modified":"2021-07-19T17:42:17","modified_gmt":"2021-07-19T09:42:17","slug":"ways-to-be-safe-from-2019-ncov-outbreak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/2020\/02\/05\/ways-to-be-safe-from-2019-ncov-outbreak\/","title":{"rendered":"Ways to Be Safe From COVID-19 Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify\">In the history of\u00a0disease outbreaks,\u00a0the world has encountered some of the worst\u00a0epidemics for the past hundreds of centuries\u2014from\u00a0dengue\u00a0and cholera to Ebola, influenzas, and more.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Recently, a new viral outbreak emerged in Wuhan, China\u00a0affecting thousands of people worldwide. The rapid rise of cases of the <strong>Novel Coronavirus acute respiratory disease<\/strong>\u2014or widely known as <strong>COVID-19,\u00a0<\/strong>has alarmed the world making it an\u00a0international health concern.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">While there is still more information yet to be discovered about\u00a0the newly-emerged deadly virus, here&#8217;s a basic guideline on what the disease is and how you can protect yourself from it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\"><b>What we know about COVID-19<\/b><b>\u00a0so far<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">The COVID-19<b>\u00a0<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">is a new strain of coronavirus that came from the same family of viruses found in animals and humans such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003 and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in 2012.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-8461\" src=\"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/outbreak-coronavirus-world-1024x506px-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/outbreak-coronavirus-world-1024x506px-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/outbreak-coronavirus-world-1024x506px-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/outbreak-coronavirus-world-1024x506px-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/outbreak-coronavirus-world-1024x506px.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 10pt\"><em>Coronavirus illustration\/IMAGE Center for Disease Control and Prevention\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The outbreak was first reported in <\/span><b>Wuhan, China<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> on <\/span><b>December 31, 2019<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> with 44 cases of patients with pneumonia of unknown etiology. It is suspected to have originated from a live animal market in Wuhan.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Soon after, national authorities in China confirmed that COVID-19 can be spread via <\/span><b>human-to-human transmission<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> either through respiratory droplets or close contact with infected people.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The viral infection can cause mild symptoms such as <\/span><b>runny nose, sore throat, cough, and fever<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that can possibly lead to <\/span><b>pneumonia, difficulty in breathing<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, or<strong> death<\/strong>. In some cases, it can be asymptomatic or shows no symptoms.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mOV1aBVYKGA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">On January 30, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a <\/span>\u201cpublic health emergency of international concern.\u201d<b>\u00a0<\/b>This was brought by the rapid increase of confirmed cases and deaths in China that has also spread in countries such as Japan, Thailand, the USA, Germany, UAE, and the Philippines among others.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">As of March 11, WHO made an assessment that COVID-19\u00a0can now be characterized as a <strong>pandemic<\/strong>\u00a0due to &#8220;the alarming levels of spread, severity, and levels of inaction.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><em>Also read:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/2020\/03\/10\/duterte-declares-public-health-emergency-due-to-increased-covid-19-cases-in-ph\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Duterte Declares Public Health Emergency Due to Increased COVID-19 Cases in PH<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A suspected 2019-nCoV infection is usually linked to travel in\u00a0countries with confirmed cases or close contact with people who have travel histories from China and other affected countries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Countries and cities around the globe with suspected and\/or confirmed cases have also closed their borders and are in lockdown to prevent further spread of the pandemic virus.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Also read: <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/2020\/02\/03\/duterte-extends-temporary-travel-ban-on-visitors-from-china-hk-macau\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Duterte Extends Temporary Travel Ban on Visitors from China, HK, Macau<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"712\" height=\"534\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-8462\" src=\"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/Airport01Philippine-Primer.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/Airport01Philippine-Primer.jpg 712w, https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/Airport01Philippine-Primer-290x218.jpg 290w, https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/Airport01Philippine-Primer-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 712px) 100vw, 712px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\"><b>Basic ways to protect yourself<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">As of writing, there is no medicine or vaccine to treat the 2019-nCoV yet. For the meantime<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, WHO advised the public to take protective measures to help prevent\u00a0further spread of the outbreak:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><b>Practice hand hygiene.\u00a0<\/b>Wash your hands frequently with a 70% alcohol-based hand rub solution or soap and water. This kills the virus on your hands.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><b>Observe proper cough etiquette.\u00a0<\/b>When coughing and sneezing, make sure to cover your mouth and nose with a tissue. Immediately discard the tissue in a closed bin and wash hands properly.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><b>Avoid crowds and maintain at least 1 meter or 3 feet distance from people showing flu-like symptoms or respiratory illness.\u00a0<\/b>Keeping a safe distance from people who are infected with respiratory disease will prevent you from breathing in droplets containing the virus.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><b>Refrain from touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.\u00a0<\/b>Your hands may touch many surfaces that can be contaminated with the virus. Touching your face\u2014particularly the eyes, nose, and mouth\u2014enables the virus to enter your body. Wash your hands thoroughly if you must.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><b>Use a face mask if you have coughs and colds.\u00a0<\/b>Wearing a medical mask is one of the preventive measures to limit the spread of certain respiratory diseases, including COVID-19. When using face masks, make sure to follow <a href=\"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/2020\/01\/28\/what-you-need-to-know-about-face-masks\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">proper use and disposal<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WHO\/photos\/a.167668209945237\/2872881339423897<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">For people who have mild respiratory problems and no travel history in China, WHO advised them to practice basic hand and respiratory hygiene and stay at home until fully recovered. This also goes for people who are constantly traveling.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Further, if you have a fever, cough or difficulty in breathing, it is better to seek medical care as early as possible and discuss previous travel history to your doctor.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">As research\u00a0and investigation on COVID-19 are currently being conducted by medical professionals, it is better to keep oneself safe\u00a0starting with strengthening the immune system and practicing basic hygiene.<\/p>\n<p><em>Also read:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/blog\/2020\/03\/01\/task-force-imposes-temporary-travel-ban-to-korea\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Task Force Imposes Temporary Travel Ban to Korea<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sources: <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/emergencies\/diseases\/novel-coronavirus-2019\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">World Health Organization<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, <\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.doh.gov.ph\/2019-nCov\">Department of Health<br \/>\n<\/a>Featured image grabbed from\u00a0<em>Center for Disease Control and Prevention<\/em><\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While there is still more information yet to be discovered about the newly-emerged deadly virus, here&#8217;s a basic guideline on what the disease is and how you can protect yourself from it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8467,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1729],"tags":[1574,1573,1577,1575,1579,1578,1576,1580],"class_list":["post-8457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-everyday-life-hacks","tag-2019-ncov","tag-2019-ncov-outbreak","tag-basic-hygiene","tag-coronavirus","tag-novel-coronavirus","tag-novel-coronavirus-acute-respiratory-disease","tag-ways-to-be-safe-from-2019-ncov-outbreak","tag-world-health-organization"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8457"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9638,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8457\/revisions\/9638"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}