The "Coronavirus" One
I’ve asked a friend and colleague to help me out with this one. I am a firm believer in going straight to the experts to get evidence-based, practical information direct from the source — rather than just “winging it.” Jessica is passionate about providing evidence-based information to cut through the noise in health science. Now more than ever, we have access to an incredible amount of information, and lots of it is sensationalised misinformation — it’s hard to decipher fact from fiction. Jessica is certainly here to help set the record straight.
About the author
Jessica Stokes-Parish
RN, GCC (ICU), MN (Adv. Prac.), PhD Candidate (Medicine)
Jessica is an Intensive Care Nurse and researcher. She is an experienced educator and communicator, and is working on the frontline during this pandemic. She is part of the planning teams to protect and prepare staff and will be deployed to work with patients once the demand is there.
What is Coronavirus?
COVID-19 (COronaVIrus Disease 2019) is the name of a disease caused by the virus SARS-CoV-19. It’s the cousin of a family of viruses called the coronaviruses. Some coronaviruses cause sickness in animals or humans.
How is it transmitted?
The COVID-19 virus is spread through droplets. Droplets are spread by sneezing, coughing and through direct contact with contaminated surfaces. This often occurs through physical contact or close proximity, or when the droplets sit on surfaces and then you touch it.
There are still a lot of unknown questions, but the virus seems to be spread when someone has symptoms of the virus, but in some cases it has been spread even when someone doesn’t have symptoms. We think the incubation period is around 5-6 days, but this is variable.
What are the symptoms?
Most people have a fever, cough, runny nose and/or shortness of breath. In severe cases, the infection causes pneumonia and acute respiratory distress.
Isn’t it just the flu?
While COVID-19 has many similarities to the flu, this new disease appears to be more severe.
Who is most at risk?
Those aged 60 and older or with pre-existing medical conditions – like, heart disease, high blood pressure, lung disease, diabetes etc.
What’s the risk for children?
There aren’t many cases of children contracting COVID-19. With the data that we currently have, severe disease is very rare. Children are likely to contribute significantly to transmitting the virus – although we still don’t know a great deal about why this is.
I have symptoms, how do I get tested?
There are a number of requirements before you can get tested. Your local health service will have a guide on what meets the criteria for testing. At present, NSW Health advises:
“those with acute, cold, flu-like symptoms who are returned travellers, or a contact of a confirmed case, be tested for COVID-19”. In most cases, hospitals are offering screening clinics for symptomatic patients. They estimate it takes up to 72 hours to get results back, however, with the demand for testing this could take longer. Check with your local health service for up to date advice.
Child-specific FAQs
Should I send my child(ren) to daycare/school?
At the moment, there is no advice not to send your children to daycare. Understandably, many are considering if you should do this. I believe we will see a shut down for an indefinite period in the near future. For now, you can consider the following when making the decision:
- is my child more susceptible to illness?
- what is my daycare doing to increase vigilance?
- what is the space like at daycare? (Overly enclosed, crowded etc)
- how long can I afford to be off work and pay child care fees?
Should I cancel birthday parties?
This should be answered on a case-by-case basis. Large gatherings are not recommended. The guidance at present is to avoid close contact with anyone with cold or flu-like symptoms or that has travelled recently. You can ask yourself the following:
Will the party be in an enclosed space?
Do I know anyone attending that has travelled?
Is anyone attending high-risk (eg. health professional, immunosuppressed, older aged)
Should I be worried about my child catching it with their asthma?
At present, we know that those with lung disease or chronic illness are more at risk. I would recommend practicing self-isolation for your child that is immunosuppressed.
What to do?
While for most COVID-19 will be mild, it is estimated that 1 in 5 will require hospital care.
Focus on hygiene
Make sure you have soap and hand sanitizer at home for frequent hand washing. This can be tricky with kids, so you could try using stamps to encourage kids to wash their hands (eg. place a stamp on their hand at the beginning of the day, the challenge is to have it washed off at the end of the day). Make it a fun activity – bubbles, soap, now’s the time to embrace water play!
Cough in your elbow
Try avoid touching your face in public (if you’ve just washed your hands it’s fine to touch your face!)
Ensure you have disinfectant available in the event you become infected (vinegar/bicarb is not effective to kill COVID-19, diluted bleach is the recommended product)
Keep your house clutter-free.
Remove as many decorative and extra items from your tables and shelves to facilitate easy cleaning in the event that someone does become infected.
Consider what will happen if you do become ill: Can you self-isolate?
Do you have activities to keep the kids occupied if school/daycare is cancelled?
How will you minimise community exposure?
Can you work from home?
Where to follow for updates
The media can be overwhelming and at times is can be hard to verify what is sensationalist. For accurate and reliable updates you can visit the following websites – these websites will update daily with new cases, testing criteria and other public health advice.