at first you might think it's a cold and
it could be but kovat 19 could escalate
here's what you need to know according
to the World Health Organization China
joint mission on kovat 19 as of February
20th 80 % of laboratory confirmed cases
were mild to moderate 14% were severe
and 6% were critical just to be clear a
mild case of CO fit 19 is not like a
mild cold the symptoms will still be
pretty severe anything less than needing
oxygen puts you in this category severe
cases do need supplemental oxygen and
critical ones are defined by respiratory
or multi organ failure the symptoms
treatments and timelines of having the
disease vary depending on which category
patients fall into so let's break down
what having kovat 19 looks like day to
day for each level of severity it can
take as few as 2 or as many as 14 days
after being exposed to the novel
coronavirus for the first symptom to
develop this is when it might feel like
a cold or the common flu many patients
develop fevers early on the World Health
Organization China joint mission saw
that about 88 percent of people who had
kovat 19 had a fever another study out
of China showed that while only 44
percent of patients had a fever on
admission to a hospital 89 percent
eventually developed one but there have
been some cases that led with
gastrointestinal symptoms diarrhea
nausea vomiting and/or abdominal
discomfort may appear a couple of days
before respiratory symptoms this isn't
the norm though because kovat 19 is a
respiratory disease that means for most
patients the virus will start and end
with the lungs in the early days of
infection the virus invades lung cells
specifically this can damage the cilia
the hairlike projections that move
around to keep Airways clear of mucous
and debris when cells get infected they
die and shed off adding to the debris
and hindering your body's ability to
keep stuff out of the lungs and trachea
the inflammation causes damage and
damage causes more inflammation and this
cycle could continue until there's no
healthy tissue left and inflammation
might explain why a dry cough is one of
the most common symptoms same goes for
shortness of breath and phlegm
production other symptoms that can
appear around this time are fatigue sore
throat headache joint or muscle pain
chills and a runny nose by day five
patients with pre-existing conditions
might find that they have trouble
breathing and it usually takes about
seven days for a person to go to a
hospital mild cases though usually clear
up by this time but those with moderate
to critical cases will have developed
pneumonia which can range from non-life
threatening to severe recovery time for
these patients could be anywhere from a
few days to weeks for some severe and
critical cases though symptoms can
escalate into acute respiratory distress
syndrome a RDS is an illness that
happens when fluid builds up in the
lungs inflammation triggers a flood of
immune cells that are meant to target
the infection they're usually isolated
to infected areas but sometimes the body
goes overboard which is when the immune
cells start killing anything in their
path including healthy cells a RDS is
often fatal in critical cases it can
lead to respiratory failure requiring
advanced life support and this is most
likely when patients head to the ICU a
RDS treatment includes supplemental
oxygen and mechanical ventilation the
goal is to get more oxygen into the
bloodstream
since the lungs can't when this
treatment doesn't work the lungs are
basically too flooded to get any oxygen
into your bloodstream that's the cause
of most kovat 19 deaths and even when a
patient survives this phase they could
be left with permanent lung damage SARS
punched holes and some infected people's
lungs giving them a honeycomb effect and
these lesions have been seen in people
affected by the novel coronavirus
too early studies found that most people
who die of the disease will do so within
14 to 19 days
and on average people who recover are
released from the hospital after two and
a half weeks but with the most critical
cases recovery could take months once a
patient is in the recovery period it's
possible that they could still be
contagious these people should work with
their doctors and public health
officials to determine when they're no
longer a risk as of now there is no
vaccine for the virus so the best way to
avoid getting sick is to avoid being
exposed kovat 19 spreads easily from
person to person through coughing and
sneezing so wash your hands often and
avoid close contact with people who are
sick and clean and disinfect surfaces
that you use daily ghovat 19 should be
taken seriously but most cases are
survivable so stay home stay clean and
don't panic