It is the disease caused by this particular Corona virus. Covid-19 stands for Corona virus Disease 2019. It is like a cold but is particularly deadly compared to all the other types of corona viruses.

There are about four viruses in that family of coronaviruses that causes the common cold. They are pretty common, and it's not uncommon for the virus to actually undergo a little bit of mutation and change.

Most people would get it through their nose and throat. So somebody is sick, and they sneeze or cough, and all that virus gets fired into the air. And this is a virus that sort of lives in the little droplets that you spray out and floats around.

Now, this virus is also probably also present in blood, and it might actually might also be present in your poopy.

Mostly though you would get it through respiratory droplets. So if you also sneeze onto a surface, then all of that fluid from your disgusting upper airway goes under the surface. So if some other unfortunate person comes by, and puts their hand on on that surface and then rubs their eye or sucks their thumb or whatever it is, then they can get the virus too.

It's more infectious than flu, but it's much less infectious than something like measles. If you have measles and you go in a room with like 10 people just by breathing, the measles virus goes up in the air and it stays there for ever, and it's very infectious and you'll infect like seven out of 10 people. This one is much less infectious in that, and that's good. So you can get it from other people.

Fecal-oral transmission is a real thing, and that's how a lot of diseases get transmitted because someone goes to poop, and then a tiny microscopic amount of that poop ends up on their fingers. They don't wash their hands well enough, then prepare food, someone else eats that food, and now you're eating microscopic amounts of poop. Then you're getting infected that way!

Yeah, that's exactly the concern, and that's why right now the recommendation is social distancing. Stay away from people. Don't go out to the store unless you really need to.

If you do not have symptoms, you should not go testing. There's nothing to test.

If you feel symptoms, but you otherwise feel like you're doing okay and you are not feeling really ill from this, just stay home and stay away from other people.

An at risk person should probably get tested because a positive response would really gonna change what you would do and what the advice that your doctor would give to you.

But, if you are not at risk, and the result is positive, we would not do anything differently than with any other virus like this. Drink fluids, stay home, watch some Netflix.

While the tests are not yet widely available, we want to preserve the tests for healthcare workers who need them first. Normal people can stay at home and rest, but doctors and nurses (at el) have to know for sure if they have gotten sick, as they are the ones treating others.

Viral pneumonia is the most common reason why patients are dying from this virus. Respiratory failure (ARDS) is a really hard problem to fix.

Young people can get very sick from it, but it looks like this virus is most deadly to the elderly. If you are over 75 and have other issues, you are in trouble.

If you're on steroids all the time, doctors would consider you to be immunosuppressed, and you would be at risk.

An attempt to stay away from mass gatherings and lots of people so we can limit the spread and the rate of the spread of the virus.

Instead of getting a really sharp influx of newly infected patients, we are trying to slow down the spread in a more predictable, manageable way.