Coronavirus is now spreading like wildfire all over the world. Positive cases increase day-by-day, while death tolls follow the same pattern. As of Wednesday, Mar. 25, over 19,000 already died due to the virus, and more than 400,000 positive cases reported globally. Amid this deadly virus, how can you protect yourself from acquiring COVID-19, and how can a virus-positive person easily spreads it?
How can a person spread Coronavirus? Here are the six possible ways!
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC and World Health Organization or WHO already issued guidelines on how Coronavirus can be easily spread out from one person to another person. Here are six of the confirmed studies that explain how this virus can be easily transmitted through droplets, feces, and other transmission ways.
Sneeze
If you have a confirmed case of Coronavirus, one symptom that you might probably encounter is having flu-like symptoms or sneezing. According to CDC, since Coronavirus is a respiratory disease, the droplets from your runny nose can easily transmit the virus once landed on another person. This is the reason why most health experts advise people to use face masks-- if you have confirmed disease-- to protect other people from getting the same virus.
Cough
Another symptom that Coronavirus-positive person experiences have a dry cough. Just like sneezing, CDC advised that coughing has the same danger with sneezing since droplets from the virus can be transferred through a simple cough. One way of protecting yourself from acquiring this disease is to make sure to observe proper social distancing within 6 feet, as advised by the agency.
Feces
One unusual way to transfer Coronavirus is through human feces or poop. In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and supported by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, a common denominator was observed by most of their Coronavirus positive patients in Singapore.
Each of their toilet bowls and sinks in the patients' isolation rooms was found with traces of Coronavirus strands. China's National Health Commission also confirms this study saying that there are huge possibilities that once a positive Coronavirus patient takes a dump, the particles from his feces will circulate in the air-- resulting in virus spread.
Sweat
Human sweat is still being studied as one of the transmitting processes of Coronavirus spread. According to Chris Smith, a consultant virologist, sweat has the least potential of being one of the COVID-19 transmitters. Since this is a respiratory disease, sweat glands may not directly contain the virus but explain that it could still contain limited amounts of the virus.
"As sweat is made in sweat glands and sweat glands make the sweat by filtering the liquid bit, the watery bit, away from blood, they're not in direct contact with the source of the virus - because this virus does not to an appreciable level go round in the bloodstream," said Smith. "Therefore, there should be only limited amounts of the virus in sweat, for that is not a means of transmission.
Contaminated Surfaces or Items
Another confirmation of transmission from the CDC said that non-living things and surfaces could also acquire Coronavirus. Once a person gets a package or touches a surface that was recently held by a positive person, there is a possibility of having the same virus-- especially if the uninfected person touches his nose, mouth, or face after touching the surface.
Tears
Unfortunately, crying might also get you those irritating virus-- however, these are only for rare cases. As reported via the American Academy of Ophthalmology, tears can also hold viruses that can be first seen if you have a condition called 'pink eye.' Experts advise not to touch the eyes and call doctors for a proper eye examination.
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