The important thing is to be calm and rational.
It’s definitely scary when a new disease worms its way through the world, not to mention the public consciousness. With constant news of COVID-19, AKA the coronavirus, bombarding us every day, it can feel like Pestilence is riding through the streets on his white horse, if you’ll pardon the mythological reference. But while people have died from the coronavirus, it’s important to keep a level head and your feet firmly planted in reality. In the event you catch COVID-19, here’s what you should expect.
The severity of a COVID-19 infection depends less on the virus itself and more on the person being infected by it. Age, general health, immunity strength, and preexisting conditions can all play a role here. For a young person of average health between the ages of 10 and 39, the chances of death are nearly nonexistent. Like, 1%, tops. From 40 to 69, it gets a little higher, but still lower than 5%. 70 to 80+ is when things start getting a little risky, ranging from around 7% to 15%, though again, this depends on your general health.
For someone with average health, symptoms of the coronavirus are not unlike a nasty cold. You’ll get some coughing, shortness of breath, and maybe a fever, but it’s far from debilitating. Bronchitis is a lot worse than this. However, if you have a weak immune system or pre-existing respiratory conditions, coronavirus can open the door to pneumonia, which can be fatal. This is why most of the fatalities have been older folks with weaker immune systems. Overall, though, the majority of people don’t need to worry about dying from COVID-19, whether they’re infected or not.
Of course, for the sake of everyone else’s health, you should be vigilant. Wash and sanitize your hands frequently, cover your mouth if you need to cough or sneeze, and just do whatever you do to keep colds away. Oh, and in a new update from the surgeon general, knock it off with the face masks. Doctors need them more than the general public, and they’re not doing you any favors anyway.
Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS!
They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!
https://t.co/UxZRwxxKL9— U.S. Surgeon General (@Surgeon_General) February 29, 2020
So, bottom line, are you going to die from the coronavirus? Probably not. Just do your best to stay clean and healthy, and we’ll all get through this just fine.
