What determines who contracts it?
- How many people (with or without known infection) the average person encounters in a day person to person, “face to face” or touching the same objects.
- The number of actual infected persons one (you the patient) is exposed to.
- The chance the virus is contagious or transmissible at that moment in time (the first 5 days of symptoms). It’s currently unclear before symptoms begin in an infected person what the transmission risk is to another person.
Who is at higher risk of serious infection if exposed? These individuals should avoid any public exposure (unless there is an urgent medical need) and should self quarantine:
- Over age 60-65 especially men (it is unclear why men are at higher risk but fatality rate was 1.5-2.0 times higher in men so far in China and Europe. Smoking has been suggested as an explanation.
- Hypertension or high blood pressure.
- Heart disease.
- Lung disease: including but not limited to asthma, smoking, COPD, really
any. - Medications that impair the immune system: Such medications are
commonly used for cancer; psoriasis; multiple sclerosis; autoimmune
disease; arthritis. - People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness.
SYMPTOMS
Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. People with these symptoms may have COVID-19:
- Cough
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Fever
- Chills
- Muscle pain
- Sore throat
- New loss of taste or smell
- This list is not all possible symptoms. Other less common symptoms have been reported, including gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.
