What Is the Novel Coronavirus and COVID-19?

The novel coronavirus is spreading throughout the globe and causing widespread impact. New information becomes available every day, and it can be hard to stay on top of the latest developments. In order to fully grasp the situation at hand, it is helpful to have a handle of the basics, as we currently understand them.

Read on for a full overview of the novel coronavirus as we understand it today, and updates on the latest coronavirus news.

What Is the Coronavirus?

The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is part of a family of coronaviruses, named “corona” after their crown-like appearance. These viruses are known as zoonotic, meaning that they can transmit from animals to humans. There are several coronaviruses that circulate annually within the general population, typically causing cold-like symptoms and respiratory illnesses. A few outbreaks of novel coronaviruses, including SARS and MERS, have caused more serious diseases.

The Naming: Coronavirus Disease, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2

When the news of a novel coronavirus originating from Wuhan, China, first broke at the end of December 2019, the virus was dubbed the 2019 Novel Coronavirus, in order to differentiate it from the other known coronaviruses which are ubiquitous in the general population. This was abbreviated to 2019-nCov.

On February 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced a change in the way that we should be referencing the virus. The virus itself is to be referred to as the SARS-CoV-2 virus, in order to match the taxonomy of other coronaviruses. The disease that is caused by this virus is known as COVID-19.

COVID-19 Symptoms

Based on the latest information available, we know that the most common symptoms of the COVID-19 disease are fever, cough, and shortness of breath. An analysis of more than 55,000 patients in China who were COVID-19 positive was recently published by the World Health Organization. This report helps to delineate the other, less common, symptoms of the  COVID-19 disease.

These other possible symptoms include the following, in order of frequency:

• Fatigue
• Sputum production
• Sore throat
• Headache
• Body aches or joint pains
• Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea

Updated April 28: The CDC added 6 additional symptoms to their list of most common for COVID-19.  These symptoms may appear alone or in combination with each other:

• Chills
• Repeated shaking with chills
• Muscle Pain
• Headache
• Sore throat
• New loss of taste or smell

It is less likely that a person with predominantly upper respiratory symptoms (such as a runny nose or sinus congestion) has the SARS-CoV-2 virus, as the report found that less than 5 percent of patients who tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus had these symptoms.

We are also beginning to understand that a large percentage of people who test positive for the virus actually have no symptoms at all, or are “asymptomatic.” The number of people who may be asymptomatic and carrying the virus is not known, as COVID-19 testing has typically been reserved for people showing signs or symptoms. There has also been a shortage of testing kits available, so there has not been large-scale testing of asymptomatic patients. As more testing becomes available, we may be able to better identify how common it is to be an asymptomatic carrier of the virus.

Cold Symptoms vs. COVID-19 Symptoms

Common cold symptoms are generally different from symptoms of COVID-19; however, some overlap may occur. With a cold, one might experience itchy eyes, a runny or stuffy nose, postnasal drip, and sore throat, with or without a cough.

It is not typical to have a high fever or shortness of breath with the common cold. It is also not common to feel extreme body aches or severe exhaustion with a cold. These symptoms are more typical of moderate COVID-19 disease.

COVID-19 Treatments As We Know Today

The treatment of symptoms for mild cases of the COVID-19 should be limited to Tylenol and other medications as directed by your medical provider.

Some anti-inflammatory medications, specifically steroids, have not been shown to be helpful, and may actually aggravate the COVID-19 disease.

Recent reporting had extended that warning to include other anti-inflammatory medications, such as ibuprofen. However, according to a statement recently released by the World Health Organization on its Twitter account, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen and naproxen are still sanctioned.

There are no specific medications for treatment of COVID-19. However, virus-specific medications are in development, as follows:

• One antiviral medicine, Remdesivir, is currently being studied in five clinical trials around the world.
• A combination of medications that have previously been used for the treatment of Hepatitis C and HIV, danoprevir and ritonavir, are currently being studied as therapies in China.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) is launching an international trial to test four potential COVID-19 therapies. These include Remdesivir, a combination of two HIV medications (lopinavir and ritonavir), a lopinavir–ritonavir combination plus interferon beta, and a drug called chloroquine, which is an antimalarial medicine. These particular medications have been selected for studies because they have shown promise in earlier in vitro or animal studies.
• Other potential therapies include antibodies that are modeled after the antibodies that are produced and present in the blood of patients who mount a successful immune response to COVID-19. Two companies are currently involved in the development of a targeted antibody therapy, as are government labs.

Regardless of specific targeted therapy potentials, when someone becomes critically ill with the novel coronavirus, their treatment necessitates measures to support their breathing. This can include high-flow oxygen through various devices. In the most extreme cases, breathing is supported via a breathing tube that is connected to a machine known as a ventilator.

Recent COVID-19 Updates:

• According to the World Health Organization, COVID-19 cases are approaching 340,000 worldwide, as of the morning of 3/23/2020.
• China struck an important note of optimism in the fight against COVID-19; they registered no new domestic cases on 3/19/2020. They did note new cases that had been imported from travelers.
• All 50 US states now have a case of Coronavirus, as of 3/18/2020.
• The presidential administration has deployed two Navy hospital ships to New York and the West Coast to help augment the resources of medical providers.
• The FDA will expedite its testing of chloroquine, a medication already used for other conditions such as lupus, malaria, and rheumatoid arthritis, as an anticoronavirus agent.
• The first patients have been enrolled in Phase 1 of a clinical trial for a COVID-19 vaccine, the National Institutes of Health reported this week.
• A new publication released by the CDC, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), shows that the demographics of the COVID-19 disease may be different from what was originally thought. The data show that severe illness, including hospitalization, ICU admission, and death, can occur in adults of any age group with COVID-19, not just those adults who are older and with chronic conditions. In fact, of the 508 patients who were admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 disease, more than half of them were younger than 65, and 20 percent of them were between the ages of 20 and 44. This new information reinforces the importance of the social distancing measures that have already been put into place in order to minimize the impact of the virus on people of all ages.
• In order to mitigate the economic impact of a national slowdown due to the virus, the presidential administration is weighing the notion of providing economic relief to taxpayers in various forms.