Evacuees from Wuhan and from the Diamond Princess cruise ship have undergone 14 days quarantine on arrival in New Zealand. New Zealand bans foreign travellers arriving directly from mainland China and Iran in an attempt to prevent an outbreak here.
What is Covid-19?
The new flu-like disease is now called Covid-19 (sometimes referred to as novel coronavirus or 2019-nCoV).
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses which cause illnesses like the common cold, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).
What are the symptoms?
Many people with the virus have symptoms similar to the flu, and having the symptoms doesn't necessarily mean you have Covid-19. It's not certain how long symptoms take to appear after a person has been infected, but WHO assessments suggest it is 2-10 days.
Symptoms include:
• Fever
• Coughing
• Difficulty breathing - this is a sign of possible pneumonia and requires immediate medical attention.
How is coronavirus spread?
Coronavirus, like the flu, can spread from person to person, by droplets from someone who is infected.
Droplet-spread diseases can be spread by coughing and sneezing and close personal contact.
When an infected person coughs, sneezes or talks, they may generate droplets containing the virus. These droplets are too large to stay in the air for long, so they quickly settle on surrounding surfaces.
You can also catch the disease by contact with an object or surface with viral particles on it and then touching your mouth, nose or eyes, the ministry says.
WHO expert Dr Bruce Aylward said 10 per cent of people who come in contact with an infected person contracts the virus.
How to avoid catching and spreading it
Good hygiene, regularly washing and thoroughly drying your hands, and other simple steps can help stop the spread, the Ministry of Health says.
These include avoiding close contact with people with cold- or flu-like illnesses and covering coughs and sneezes with disposable tissues or clothing.
Washing hands for at least 20 seconds with water and soap and drying them thoroughly, before eating or handling food, after using the toilet, after coughing, sneezing, blowing your nose or wiping children's noses or after caring for sick people can help prevent spreading the disease.
The Ministry of Health's public information campaign is focusing on handwashing as a simple way to protect yourself and your family.
What to do if you may have been exposed
If you have returned anywhere from mainland China or if you may have been exposed to Covid-19, authorities want you to isolate yourself for 14 days.
The Ministry of Health says if you have the symptoms and have recently been to mainland China or have been in close contact with someone confirmed with the illness, phone the dedicated free Healthline number 0800 358 5453 (+64 9 358 5453 from international SIMS) or your doctor immediately.
What is the treatment?
There is no specific treatment for coronavirus, but medical care can treat most of the symptoms.
This could involve prescribing antiviral medication used to treat influenza or antibiotics used to treat bacterial infections.
What about a Covid-19 vaccine?
This is a new virus and there is currently no vaccine available. Researchers in many countries are working on developing one.
The annual influenza vaccine, usually available from April, does not protect against Covid-19. But health officials are encouraging people to get the vaccine this year, to help reduce stress on the health service if coronavirus cases started turning up at the same time as the winter flu season.
Should you wear a face mask?
Infectious diseases expert Dr Siouxsie Wiles spoke with the Herald's Focus Live presenter Will Trafford about the coronavirus and what you need to know to stay safe.
Speaking about face masks she said: "Culturally in countries like China, people wear masks not to prevent infection, but when they have cold – to stop spreading it."
"It doesn't stop the spread of everything. If you wear a mask, it won't protect you from the virus [but] it will stop somebody who is coughing and sneezing from spreading the big particles that will have the virus."
"The mask people are running out to buy and spending a stupid amount of money for is a surgical mask.
"It is for surgeons to make sure they are not spitting on their patients or dropping anything onto them.
"It's not very good at blocking viruses coming in. People don't wear them properly, they don't make a good fit around [your face]. If you have a gap, you're breathing stuff in.
"There are other masks that we would use in the lab for when we're doing dangerous stuff and they are very different.
"They are made from different material and that is much better at blocking things."
- additional reporting NZ Herald
