In this week's video we're going to be looking at the novel coronavirus it's
time for an update and we're going to be looking at symptoms of coronavirus we're
going to be looking at how its spread we're going to be looking at current
guidance self-isolation how to try and prevent it and loads more now this is
going to be quite a long video with lots of useful information so at any point
whilst I'm speaking feel free to click in the description below we've broken
down the content and time-stamped it so you can find the information that you
need quickly and efficiently let's begin with the symptoms so the truth is that
just based on symptoms so without a test it's actually quite difficult to
diagnose a novel coronavirus and the reason is that symptoms are very similar
to those that are seen in flu here's a list of the most common symptoms seen
between the two and as you can see they are quite similar but we've covered 19
one of the first kind of symptoms that you present with is a fever so feeling
hot to touch and all a continuous cough but what does this mean well you could
be coughing a lot for more than an hour or you might have three or more coughing
episodes in 24 hours now if you already have a coffin you struggle with a cough
your cough might become worse so if you have these symptoms you need to take
actionable steps to protect yourself and others the current guidance in the UK
is that if you have a new fever and/or a continuous cough you need to self
isolate straight away so stay at home for seven days and if you live with
anyone else in the household they also need to stay at home for 14 days from
the first day that that person in the house developed their symptoms so the
first day they developed the fever and all the cough everyone needs to self
isolate from that day and if you do live with someone who is 70 or over has a
weakened immune system has long-term health conditions or is pregnant please
try and find them somewhere else to stay for the next 14 days if you do have to
stay at home together please try and stay away from each other as much as
possible and during this period of self isolation please stay at home so that
means Doe visit your hospital don't visit your pharmacy don't visit your
doctor surgery or your dentist or any other health care provider you also
don't need to contact NHS for more more and whilst you're doing this however you
do need to contact them if you can't cope with your symptoms your symptoms
are getting worse or you see no improvement after seven days this is the
current guidance from the NHS but please remember this
is a developing situation and every day we are learning more about the novel
coronavirus so most likely this guidance will change this video was filmed on the
22nd of March 2020 so please stay up to date with the latest NHS and w-h-o
guidance which I will leave links to in the description below so please check it
out now let's talk a little more about the novel coronavirus so the w-h-o
estimated the incubation period so this is the period that you have the virus
which shown us symptoms of the novel coronavirus to be around 14 days so
compare this to the flu when incubation period is estimated to be around three
days so this means that you could potentially have the virus so you could
potentially have the novel coronavirus and be fine move around speak to people
and potentially spread the virus at the same time which this is on to the next
question how is the novel coronavirus spread well there's actually some really
good research coming out on this and we know that the primary driver is through
respiratory droplets that come from the nose and mouth when a person costs or
exhales these particles will also temporarily hang in a closed environment
so indoors and then you can potentially breathe it in this is why during the
winter time we tend to have more coughs and colds because more people are
indoors and because their air is drier you have a higher hang time so these
germs can hang around in the air for a longer period more people are breathing
it in and then you get researchers also shown that the virus can survive on
surfaces from a period of a few hours up to two to three days providing the
conditions of right so the right temperature the right humidity and the
right kind of surface now the novel coronavirus has been shown to survive
the longest on non-porous materials like plastic and steel so what does this mean
well you could potentially touch a contaminated surface then all of a
sudden your hands have the germs on them they have the virus on them and then you
may touch one of your mucous membranes for your eyes your nose your mouth and
all of a sudden the virus is in your system which is why it's so important
that we wipe down these surfaces that we all commonly touch like a keyboard like
your phone like a door handle anything you can think of really now let's
discuss social distancing first of all what is it well it steps that you can
take to reduce social interactions when people to try and avoid you
catching virus or spreading it in the UK the current guidance is that everyone
should do what they can to help reduce the risk of spreading the novel
coronavirus and this includes social distancing to the best of your ability
however social distancing is strongly recommended for those who are 17 over
those with long-term health conditions pregnant women and those who have a
weakened immune system so now we know a little about social distancing let's go
through what is actually included let's list through the number one avoiding
people who is showing symptoms of the novel coronavirus such as having a fever
and or a continuous cough and all the other symptoms that we mentioned at the
start of the video - avoiding non-essential use of public transport
and if you do have to use it not using at rush hour so varying your time you
use it when it's less busy 3 working from home work possible and your
employer should support to do this for avoiding large gatherings or gatherings
in small places like coffee shops bars pubs cinemas though this goes on 5
avoiding gatherings with friends and family that you don't live with and
there's loads of different ways that you can contact each other without actually
seeing each other so by a telephone by FaceTime online social media there's
loads of different ways and number six using your telephone or online services
to contact your GP your pharmacy and any other essential services
now it's understandable that you may find social distancing a bit boring
frustrating and it might even affect your mood and make you feel alone and
times like these is very easy to fall into an unhealthy pattern of behavior
that can make you feel much worse so it's really important that you stay
mentally and physically active so maintain a healthy lifestyle by having a
balanced diet drinking enough fluids sleeping enough exercising and having
social contact yes with anyone that lives with you but
if you don't live with anyone get in contact with friends and loved ones via
a telephone by a FaceTime by social media there's loads of different ways
that we can contact each other without physically seeing each other there's
also many little things that you can do at home that can help as well so one of
them is opening the window to let in some fresh air and also open the
since regularly to get in some natural light and all of this will make you feel
better you can go out into the garden as well you can also go outside and
exercise go for a walk but try and maintain a 2 meter distance or a 2 meter
gap between you and anyone else once again this guidance can change I
probably will change in the future so please stay today I will leave a link to
the public health England page about this in the description below so please
check it out and stay out today I did tell you this video is going to be quite
long there's lots of useful information in there but please remember like I said
at the start we have done a breakdown of the entire video in the description
below so feel free to click on it at any point see the relevant time stamp click
on it and it will take you to that information that you want to know about
now let's move on to treatments so far looking at the numbers we know that
around 80% of patients with Cova 19 have mild to moderate symptoms and they
recover with rest plenty of fluids and paracetamol to ease the symptoms the bad
news however is that 15 to 20 percent of patients with kovat 19 get severe
complications and these tends to be in the more elderly and patients with
underlying health conditions this is why social distancing is actually so
important for this group of patients now when it comes to treatment there is no
specific treatment for kovin 19 our bodies will naturally fight the virus
and in most cases we will win supportive treatment in hospital is mainly for
those 15 to 20 percent of severe cases who will need intensive care support to
help treat their symptoms and sometimes may need mechanical ventilation to help
the body breathe whilst your immune system is fighting off the virus
antibiotics also don't work for covert 19 because it's a virus also Tama vir
also known as Tamiflu this is a drug that we use for seasonal flu this also
work work on Cobra 19 because the virus doesn't have an analogue to it but
saying all that there is actually some good news there's currently some really
interesting research going on using certain medicines that we already have
on covert 19 so you now know quite a lot of information on the novel coronavirus
but what about preventative tips to protect you and others now some of these
you may already know and some of them you might not know so let's run through
them so tip number one kill the viruses that are on your hands by washing your
hands frequently with soap or water now if it's not available
to you you can use alcohol hand sanitizer instead but just a quick note
please make sure that you're washing your hands properly so you have to do it
for at least 20 seconds and there is a proper way of doing it the NHS have made
a really good video on this and I will leave a link to it in the description
below but also please remember this if you are using alcohol hand sanitizing
gel please use it properly because I see so many people using it incorrectly they
just squirt in their hands or just rub it like this you have to spread it
everywhere there is a proper way to do it and I will also leave a link to that
in the description below to tip number two if you have to cough or sneeze
please cover your mouth and nose with either a flexed elbow or preferably a
tissue and then throw it in the bin straight away please do not pour that
tissue in your pocket and use it later I have seen people do that tip number
three please avoid contact with anyone who is showing signs of respiratory
illness so all the symptoms we spoke about earlier about over 19 symptoms
such as a fever and all a new continuous cough but if you do have to come in
contact with them please maintain a minimum of one meter which is three feet
between you and then and the reason for this we spoke about earlier about how
the virus is spread through respiratory droplets when someone coughs or sneezes
by maintaining this distance it's hopefully going to avoid you from
catching that virus tip number four try not to touch commonly touch surfaces as
I mentioned earlier research has shown that the virus can last from a couple of
hours to two to three days if the conditions are right
so please wipe down commonly touch surfaces such as keyboards such as door
handles anything that you can think of and also when you can try not to use
your hands to touch this so use your elbows use your hips
be creative tip number five is probably the hardest to get used to and that's
trying to avoid shaking hands hugging and kissing I know it can sometimes seem
rude when you don't shake someone's hand but everyone is pretty much aware of
what's going on and how we're trying to reduce the spread of this virus so
please try and avoid it tip number six if you're feeling unwell if you're
feeling sick please stay at home so as I mentioned earlier about all the other
symptoms but remember if you have a fever and or a continuous cough please
stay at home by doing this you're going to help reduce the spread of the virus
and you're protecting your community until
seven please try and maintain social distancing to the best of your ability
by doing this it's going to help prevent you from catching and spreading the
novel coronavirus we should use times like this to bring out the best in us
because we are all in this together we should really look out for each other be
kind and supportive of each other healthcare systems are under
unprecedented pressures at the moment hospitals community pharmacies GP
surgeries they are all dealing with workloads that have not seen for a long
time we need you to help us more than ever before right now so please use
online resources such as the NHS WHL website to find out informations that
can answer your questions in the first instance our systems are robust and they
are designed to cope with your healthcare needs but they are not
infinite and we need you to act responsibly at this time this means try
your best to avoid your GP surgery if it really isn't necessary at the moment
this means don't over order or stop our medicines medicines are inadequate
supply and there is no risk of shortage unless we create a shortage by over
ordering and stockpiling medicines and finally please remember that the
measures your pharmacies and GP practices have put into place such as
2-meter barriers such as telephone triaging have all been put into place to
protect you to protect us and the most vulnerable in society this video was
filmed on the 22nd of March 2020 so please stay up to date with the latest
NHS and w-h-o guidance which I will leave links to in the description below
so please check it out thank you for watching this video I really hope you
find this information helpful always remember you're awesome and I will see
you next week hey guys thanks for watching this week's
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