TO this day, there is still so much that is not known about the coronavirus, COVID-19, which explains why it is still spreading wildly in many countries, including the United States.
It is now generally accepted that the virus can move to another victim through droplets in the sneezing, coughing, or mere breathing of an infected person. This is why it is important to maintain “social distancing” – distancing between people. No touching. No “beso-beso.” No handshaking. A distance of at least one meter at all times, lest one inhale the virus in the breath of an infected one.
This is why most of us today wear face masks. They were developed primarily for infected people so their cough, or sneeze, or breath would not reach other people. But they are also good for blocking any virus from getting into a healthy person.
A study conducted by researchers in Singapore and published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last Wednesday has come up with more findings about the virus. Around 10 percent of infections were found to have been caused by infected people who showed no symptoms.
This was in line with a previous study in Hubei province, China, showing that more than 10 percent of the transmissions could have occurred before the patients spreading the virus ever exhibited symptoms.
The Singapore researchers also found cases caused by “asymptomatic” people – those who were infected but never showed clear-cut symptoms. And there were also “post-symptomatic” people – those who got sick, appear to have recovered, but may still be contagious.
There are indeed so many things we do not know about COVID-19, which is why it continues to spread fiercely around the world. One question that remains unanswered is: Why did it spread so greatly in the Diamond Princess and the other cruise ships, as well as in the US aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt? What is it in big ships that serves to spread the disease? The air-conditioning, perhaps? The virus spreading everywhere through the air ducts?
The death rate in New Orleans, US, was also found to be seven times more than in New York City and 10 times more than in Seattle. Doctors said this could be due to the fact that New Orleans residents suffer from obesity, diabetes, and hypertension at rates much higher than the national average.
Studies are continuing all over the world. We hope they will continue to discover more about the nature of this new virus and new connections with other conditions and situations, all of which can help us understand and thus stop this virus causing the current pandemic.
