Covid-19 Questions

There is no reason to believe that cold weather or cold water can kill the new coronavirus or other diseases. The normal human body temperature remains around 36.5°C to 37°C, regardless of the external temperature or weather. The most effective way to protect yourself against the new coronavirus is by frequently cleaning your hands with alcohol-based hand rub or washing them with soap and water.

There are reports of recovered COVID-19 patients being tested positive again in China, South Korea and Japan. However, solid scientific evidence is needed to address questions like: How accurate were the test results? Was the recovered patient reinfected with the virus, or did they have an infection that simply lasted a long time? Are there variations in immune response among different people? How many different versions of COVID-19 may be spreading around? These questions could help us understand the immune response of the virus.

Yes – because the time from when you catch the COVID-19 virus to when you begin to show symptoms is five days on average. However, this time period, also called the incubation period, has been known to vary between 1-14 days – and people can be infectious during this period. Additionally, if you have no symptoms but are a carrier of the virus, you could risk passing it on to others, for whom it could be fatal.

On March 20, 2020, President Trump touted hydroxychloroquine, a common anti-malaria drug, as a potential treatment for the illness, even while the top health official beside him urged caution about it. Whether HCQ is as efficacious as CQ in treating SARS-CoV-2 infection still lacks experimental evidence. We need to point out, although HCQ is less toxic than CQ, prolonged and overdose usage can still cause poisoning. FDA commissioner warns the public against taking ‘any form of chloroquine’ unless prescribed.

This depends on the surface material and the amount of virus present. A recent study investigated the persistence of coronavirus on stainless steel, plastic, cardboard, and copper. The authors used an initial virus concentration similar to that found in the respiratory tract of infected people. The virus remained detectable for between 10 hours and three days, with the shortest persistence on copper and the longest on plastic.

This will vary a lot by country. China is seeing very few cases now because their testing and “shut down” was very effective. If a country does a good job with testing and “shut down” then within 6-10 weeks they should see very few cases and be able to open back up

There is currently no approved vaccine for COVID-19. Vaccines usually take at least a year from first human trials to regulatory approval – however, due to the urgency of the need for this vaccine, it may be made available to health workers and high-risk individuals in six to nine months.

They tested breast milk 6 days after birth (even in a possible vertical transmission during pregnancy) and found a negative RT-PCR test result. Anyhow, it seems important to avoid skin-to-skin contact of an infected mother with the child. Breastfeeding mostly includes that kind of contact while feeding. Maybe the expressing breast milk by hand or using a breast pump should be considered following all hygienic considerations in use

To bring it to small numbers globally we need a vaccine. Many rich countries will be able to keep the number of cases small (including the US) if they do the right things but developing countries will find it very difficult to stop the spread so a vaccine is critical. A group called GAVI helps buy vaccines for developing countries and they will play a key role once we have a vaccine being made in volume

You should wear a face mask if:

• You are taking care of someone who is (or might be) infected with the coronavirus.
• You are coughing or sneezing.
• You have coronavirus or have been tested for coronavirus.
• You are a health care provider.