Coronavirus: What We Know, What We Don't, and What We Should Do

 
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We have to behave responsibly, with knowledge, and with calm.

 

Part of being a physician,  a scientist, or indeed a human being is confronting things that you do not understand. With that acknowledgment of the lack of understanding, one can find the resolve to do everything in one’s power to address the problems around you. It is only by acknowledging that there is much that we do not know about SARS-CoV-2 that we can begin the process of putting our best efforts to understand it.

There are many things that we know in general about SARS-CoV-2, but there are many things that we don’t know. Guess what, that is OK. Time and time again, as nations, as individuals, we have confronted and moved through diseases and circumstances that we did not understand. One of the major determinants that affects the morbidity and mortality that we encounter along the way is the speed with which we adapt. 

What we have to do is behave responsibly, with knowledge, and with calm.

What we know:

  • We know the virus that causes COVID-19. It has been named SARS-CoV-2. 

  • We know the genetic makeup of the virus that causes COVID-19 

  • We know that most people that get the disease will not become seriously ill.

  • We know that no one has known immunity to this disease other than the people that have gotten the disease recently.

  • We know that our hospitals are NOT full of people dying from the disease yet. 

  • We know that the coronavirus can be killed with hand washing.

  • We know that in other countries, older people seemed to be more susceptible to death.

  • We know that few children die from the disease. 

  • We know that we have not had enough kits to test for the virus in the US. 

What we don’t know:

  • We don’t know what the incidence is in the general population.

  • We don’t know what the incidence is in US hospitals.

  • We don’t know the number of healthcare workers that have been exposed to SARS-CoV-2.

What we think:

  • We think the virus is 10-20X more infective than the influenza viruses

  • We think that the mortality rate is between 0.2 to 3.4%.

  • We think that a single infected person likely infects two people prior to containment.

STAY HOME WHEN YOU ARE SICK.

Life is about more than you. Think about it. You may handle the disease, but someone else may not. If you have mild symptoms and have COVID-19, your contact with others puts them at risk.  The person that may be harmed by the transmission may be removed from your immediate point of contact. You may infect two people, and they may be the ones to infect a vulnerable individual.

Jos Domencoronavirus, rpm