![]() COVID-19 then passed from a bat to a person. Transmission of coronaviruses from animals to humans is rare but COVID-19 is thought to have originated from bats, but now also – pangolins. COVID-19 is a disease caused by a coronavirus, the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. We have seen an example of a coronavirus in 2002 in the disease commonly known as SARS, so they aren’t a new phenomenon. ![]() They are zoonotic viruses, which means that they can be passed between animals and humans. Well coronaviruses are a large family of viruses – yes there are a few of them – that are commonly associated with mild illnesses such as the common cold. Finally, on 12th March 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a pandemic by the WHO. On the 30th January 2020, the outbreak was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) naming the disease ‘coronavirus 2019’ (COVID-19) and the virus responsible ‘severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in February. The following weeks after this showed the illness spreading across the globe, spreading to over 195 countries and infecting millions as it was finally identified as an unknown coronavirus and therefore being named 2019 novel coronavirus – 2019-nCov. In December 2019, an unknown illness with pneumonia-like symptoms was first reported in Wuhan city, China. So, I thought I’d try and help debunk some of the myths and explain some of the concepts, starting right at the beginning by explaining the origins of COVID-19, and what a coronavirus actually is. However, in the absence of mass vaccinations, public health policies are aimed at awareness and education of the public, in order to contain the spread of COVID-19 and unfortunately, some of the scientific concepts are lost a little in translation and lack of understanding is leading to the rise of fake news – which does not lead to complience with public policy. I don’t pretend to be an expert on viruses and I didn’t want to get anything wrong. ![]() The second reason is that I’m not a virologist. The first reason for this is that I didn’t want to add to all of the information being thrown at the public – it is a stressful situation to be in without being bombarded with lots of information. I have wanted to write about COVID-19 for a long time, but in truth, I’ve been scared to address it.
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