Coronavirus Update from Cleveland Clinic

The current situation:

I am certain that all of you have heard of the cases of pneumonia caused by a coronavirus in people that visited a live animal market in Wuhan, China. Some of these people then traveled to other countries including the US and were diagnosed there. The Cleveland Clinic is monitoring this situation very closely and is getting credible information from a variety of sources.

What you need to know:

While hearing so much news about this can be quite anxiety inducing it is important to keep in mind the facts about the situation.

Coronavirus is a common virus that causes many respiratory illnesses including the common cold. Like the common cold, vaccines, antibiotics, and antivirals, are not effective and the treatment is supportive (drink fluids, use medications to control fever, and rest).
The human-to-human transmission of this 2019nCov virus seems to be very limited. Almost all the patients have been exposed to animal markets in Wuhan.
The total number of people infected by this virus is about 830 and 26 have died. The deaths were in elderly patients with chronic health conditions. To put this in perspective, the regular flu 2018-19 season caused 57,300 deaths & affected 41.3 million people. (P.S. It’s not too late to get vaccinated)
The World Health Organization said it was too early to declare an international health emergency, in part because there are so far relatively few cases outside China.
Hand hygiene and cough/sneeze etiquette (into a tissue or your sleeve) will protect you against contracting and spreading most contagious illnesses.
There are currently no additional precautions needed.

If you would like to know more about any of the above, don’t hesitate to reach out. For more information on APP member Cleveland Clinic, and what they can offer you, please click here.

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