Coronavirus 101: What is the Coronavirus and How Worried Should You Be?

February 11, 2020

In December 2019, the world heard about coronavirus for the very first time: A never-before-seen respiratory illness originating in Wuhan, a 3,279-square-mile city in China. Today, you can’t turn on the TV or flip through a newspaper without seeing an alarmist proclamation about the deadly coronavirus. But what is the coronavirus and how worried should you really be?

What is the Coronavirus and How Concerned Should We Be?

You’ve already had a coronavirus. That’s because the common cold — along with hundreds of other viruses — are all part of the coronavirus family. But this new form of the coronavirus is nothing to sneeze at. Unlike its cousins SARS and MERS, this coronavirus has yet to have an official medical name. But it is sweeping the globe, resulting in the quarantines of millions of people, the grounding of international flights to and from China, and a worldwide shortage of face masks. On January 1, 2020, the first reported case of the coronavirus in the U.S. was reported. By February 4th, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control reported more than 20,000 confirmed cases worldwide and 425 deaths. Sadly, Dr. Li Wenliang, the Chinese doctor who first tried to warn the world about the coming outbreak, also fell victim to the virus. The good news: To put these numbers into perspective, take a look at the seasonal flu. According to the CDC, the flu infects 45 million Americans a year, sends more than 800,000 Americans to the hospital annually, and kills as many as 61,000 Americans every year. So while the coronavirus is an international emergency, the statistics invite each of us to remain calm and grounded. By supporting your immune system through well-researched supplements and smart preventative techniques, you don't need to panic about the coronavirus!

How Coronavirus Spreads (And How do You Know if You Have Coronavirus?)

This pandemic is so new that scientists are still rushing to figure out exactly how the virus spreads. But because it's similar to the common cold, transmission of the coronavirus likely involves:

Breathing in the droplets from an infected person's sneezing or coughing
Getting an infected person’s droplets in your mouth, nose or eyes
Touching a surface that’s been contaminated, then touching your own mouth, nose or eyes

Symptoms of the coronavirus mimic that of the flu or common cold. These symptoms appear in as little as two days after you've been exposed, or as long as two weeks after being near a sick person. Symptoms may include:

Coughing and sneezing
Trouble breathing or shortness of breath
A fever

When left untreated, the virus progresses and the World Health Organization warns it may result in:

Pneumonia
Kidney failure
Severe breathing problems
Death

If you suspect you’ve been exposed to the virus and have the above symptoms, your doctor can order lab tests to confirm whether or not you have this new coronavirus.

How to Prevent Coronavirus

There’s no vaccine yet, but that doesn’t mean there’s no hope in the face of this global pandemic. If you want to protect yourself from coronavirus, and protect your immune system, smart strategies and savvy supplements can limit your exposure, shield you from the virus and boost your immune system.

1. Wash your hands

Washing your hands regularly may help to reduce your risks of catching the coronavirus.

Use soap and warm water, and make sure you wash for a minimum of 20 seconds. Frequent hand washing is key, but especially if you're near a sick person, or before you touch your face. If you're on the go, consider using a hand sanitizer made with a minimum of 60% alcohol to zap any bacteria and viruses.

2. Limit your exposure

It goes without saying, but avoiding people who are sick is critical. If you can’t avoid someone who is sick, a face mask for both you and the other person is helpful. Because coronavirus may also spread via droplets on surfaces, clean surfaces like bathroom faucets, kitchen counters, light switches and door handles often.

3. Boost your immune system

Support your body’s natural defences with an arsenal of immune-boosting supplements and strategies. First, consider a humidifier. Keeping your nasal passages and throat moist helps your body better defend itself from invading viruses. Next, eat a diet rich in zinc and vitamin B6. Zinc reduces your risks of infection and helps protect your immune system. For example, taking zinc may reduce the duration of the common cold (a cousin of the new coronavirus). Ideally, look for a supplement that contains natural zinc which is easily absorbed into your body (BioPro-Plus contains 650 mcg of immune-boosting zinc). Meanwhile, vitamin B6 helps your body to produce extra white blood cells and protects your immune system cells from dying. Finally, boost the function of your thymus gland. In most people, particularly those over the age of 40, their thymus doesn’t produce enough proteins to activate their immune system’s T-cells (which help fight infections). Taking a bio-identical supplement of these proteins, such as those found in our Immune Booster BioPro-Plus, could restore your thymus function with five purified thymic proteins that may enhance your immunity against the coronavirus. BioPro-Plus also contains zinc, as mentioned earlier, which provides another powerful aid to your immune system to help protect you from any bug you come into contact with. Want to learn more? Stay tuned for our next article that will offer in-depth ways to protect and prevent against the new coronavirus.

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