One of the things that makes this virus so scary is that it’s brand new (you might have heard the term “novel” thrown around). Experts suspect the incidence of coronavirus infection is already significantly higher than we know about, simply because the testing is not widely available. We don’t know enough about it yet--no one does. And it is human nature to be afraid of the unknown. 

Many viruses hit hard in the winter months, when temperatures are cooler. Moisture in the air is made up of tiny water droplets. When a person coughs or sneezes, or even speaks, respiratory droplets can latch on to water droplets. These fluid droplets can travel feet through the air (three to six feet).

When it’s cold out, those water droplets, and the illnesses attached to them, tend to linger. When it’s warm, however, the droplets evaporate quickly and the spread of illness is typically less. This is one of the reasons we think seasonal influenza is not as prominent in the summer as it is during winter and fall. 

The good news: some speculate the spread of the Coronavirus will decrease as warmer weather hits.

The answer is, it depends. Many factors go into the spread of a virus including age and immune status (healthy vs unhealthy). Those with underlying health conditions such as heart or lung disease and diabetes are also considered high risk. So far the coronavirus seems to be very mild in children through young adults. The mortality seems to be quite high in populations 60+ years old.

The risk of infectiousness is similar to a bad flu. Epidemiologists use R naught value or R zero to describe how many people are likely to be infected from one person carrying or infected by the virus. For seasonal influenza, about 1.3 people are infected for every person who has the flu. The R0 for coronavirus is difficult to determine because the initial reporting from China was spotty and there was concern with the testing capacity, however, it is estimated that the R0 is around 2.2 infected for every person who has the virus.

Basically, this is a sneaky virus that seems like a cold and is spreading through the global population very quickly. It is important to be informed and aware, but also not to be paranoid. Be safe and smart. Learn how to prevent coronavirus infection by reading the second blog in this series Coronavirus Part 2: Prevention.

For more information, or to sign up for daily email updates on the virus, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/index.html