17 Facts You Need To Know About The CORONAVIRUS

1. It is a new virus named Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). It is a family of viruses that include the common cold, and viruses such as SARS
2. It all started on the 31st of December 2019 when several cases of pneumonia was reported in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. was reported.
3. The first case of a novel coronavirus strain (2019nCoV) was confirmed in China on the 7th of January, 2020.
4. According to preliminary investigations, most patients either visited or worked in the Huanan Seafood wholesale market, Wuhan city.
5. Wuhan city is a major transport hub in China. Beyond Wuhan, cases have been confirmed in other cities in China; Guangdong, Beijing, and Shanghai.
6. Many of the initial cases were thought to have contracted the virus through animal-to-human transmission from the market, but human-to-human transmission has also been established.
7. As of the 20th of January, 2020, 278 laboratory-confirmed cases of nCoV infection including six deaths have been reported.
8. As of the 21st of January, five cases have been confirmed in four other countries: Thailand, Japan, The Republic of Korea and the United States of America.
9. Symptoms: nCoV, appears to cause mild to severe respiratory symptoms like cough and breathing difficulties. From current evidence, it appears that death is a rare outcome, and occurs mostly in patients with underlying illness.
10. Treatment: There is no specific treatment for disease caused by the novel coronavirus yet. However, many of the symptoms can be treated.
11. Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are normally transmitted between animals and people.
12. Some coronaviruses can be transmitted from person to person, usually after close contact with an infected patient, for example, in a household or health care setting.
13. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans.
14. Global surveillance is being established and it is expected that more cases will be reported over the next weeks.
15. In an effort to protect passengers and to prevent the spread of such communicable diseases into Nigeria, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) hereby advises passengers and other airport users to comply with all quarantine procedures.
16. All the equipment and personnel used in combating the deadly Ebola virus in 2014 are still very much in place at the Nigerian airports.
17. FAAN has always had thermal scanners in her airports that monitor the temperatures of passengers and capture their pictures. When passengers walk pass the scanner, it registers their temperature and If too high, they are pulled aside for observation.

How to protect yourself

To reduce the risk of spread of coronavirus, members of the public are advised to adhere to the following measures:

• Wash your hands regularly with soap under running water.

• Cover your mouth and nose properly with handkerchief or tissue paper when sneezing and/or coughing. You may also cough into your elbow if a handkerchief is not available.

• Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing.

• Avoid self-medication, report to the nearest health facility when you experience any of the above-mentioned symptoms.

• Healthcare workers are always advised to observe standard infection prevention and control measures when attending to patients and take a travel history.

As the situation is evolving, this advisory will be updated as more information becomes available.

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