What is the coronavirus is a question being asked worldwide. The answer is that the coronavirus is a family of viruses that infect mammals, humans are mammals, and other warm-blooded animals such as birds.
The coronavirus causing the hype at the moment is the SARS-CoV-2.
It is very similar to the coronavirus that causes common flu.
History of the SARS-CoV-2
Genetic studies of the viral genome have shown that the virus started in bats, it then mutated and infected pangolins, an endangered species. These pangolins were sold at a market in China for food.
The handling of the infected animal resulted in a mutated virus infecting a human. This infected human then passed the mutated virus to others.
It is not a genetically engineered virus produced by the Chinese. The genome has been sequenced in a number of countries independent of China and no human modifications have been found.
Please stop with the conspiracy theories.
How The Virus Infects Humans
The virus is called coronavirus because of structures that protrude from the surface. They look like crowns and corona is Latin for a crown. These crowns attach to a receptor on the surface of ours and this stimulates the cell to ingest, eat, the virus. This means that the virus can only enter cells that have a particular receptor. These receptors are found in 2 cells lining the lungs.
Courtesy of Scientific Animations
This is a great video on how the virus enters the cell and takes over the mechanisms of the cell to create more virus particles.
The figures tell a very different story.
In spite of all the hype and hysteria around this disease, the figures tell a very different story.
As of 2020-03-20, 20th of March 2020 there have been 8652 confirmed cases in Korea. There have been 91 deaths. This gives a mortality rate of 1%. The vast majority of those are the elderly and those with compromised immune systems. I am using Korea as an example as they have the most comprehensive testing strategy.
What we do know, without any doubt, is that healthy people do not get this disease or if they do it is very mild. So the answer to this problem is to stay healthy.
Take your Noster probiotic daily and you will not have to worry.
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