Coronavirus COVID-19 - symptoms and consumer advice

Coronavirus COVID-19 popular symptoms, latest updates, useful information (no cure or treatment advice, nor vaccine yet)

Coronavirus COVID-19. It is not very common for this consumer blog to get involved in social topics outside technology and connected industries but today we will focus our attention on something completely different and out of the ordinary for Test and Review. Humanity’s latest disease - the deadly coronavirus COVID-19 is on the rise. There are multiple countries with now confirmed cases of coronavirus.

Why we write about the coronavirus?

The purpose of this article is to get our readers informed about the coronavirus with the available resources that we have on hand (at the moment).

Chloroquine phosphate - potential cure for coronavirus COVID-19

We advice everyone to avoid any speculations and use the momentum to make profit out if this human crisis. There is still no confirmed cure or vaccine that is available to the population. We would appreciate any valuable comments and info with live updates and such.

Our readers in Europe must be especially wary since the major outbreak of the coronavirus in Italy. There are now more than 150 confirmed cases of sick patients in Italy. Ten cities are practically blocked from the outside world in efforts to isolate the virus from spreading.

The outbreak is located in Lombardy, the northern region of Italy with capital Milan. The first patient is said to be identified in the city of Codogno. Affected regions are Veneto, Piemonte, Lombardy. Major cities in these regions are Venice, where the carnival was postponed due to the outbreak, Milan, Bergamo, Turin. Italians are closing their shops, cutting off cities and postponing football matches.

Basic symptoms of the coronavirus as confirmed by BBC news

Headache
Cough
Shortness of breath
Muscle pain
Fever

In the initial period, you may get a mild fever

After that, you could develop a dry cough

A week later, some patients get shortness of breath or general trouble breathing and may require hospitalization

Patients rarely develop runny nose or sneezing

As you can see, the symptoms of the coronavirus are very similar to that of the common flu. There are specific tests developed that can confirm if a patient has the coronavirus or not. The tests are currently not largely available and not all countries / hospitals have them. If you have any symptoms and are unsure what disease this is, always consult with a physician.

Is there a cure for the coronavirus?

The sad answer is that currently there is no cure for the coronavirus. The treatment given to patients is only meant to alleviate the symptoms while the immune system fights off the virus. Some patients require breathing support - in the heavier cases.

A vaccine is currently being developed, but still in the early stages. It is unknown how long it will take before the vaccine is ready and available for distribution.

How can we protect ourselves?

There are several preventative measures that we can take, which we will list below. We urge our readers to be very careful and not to take any unnecessary risks with their health. Adequate prevention is the best cure. The measures are approved by the WHO (World Health Organization)

Wash your hands frequently with soap and water or with alcohol-based hand wipes. This will remove the virus if it is on your hands.

When coughing or sneezing, cover your mouth and immediately after that clean your hands.

Maintain at least 1 meter distance from other people, especially if they are coughing or sneezing. The virus can get in your body from other people’s cough or sneeze.

Avoid touching your nose or mouth if you haven’t washed your hands

If you have any symptoms, seek medical help early. Don’t wait to get even sicker!

Avoid contact with livestock animals and practice very good hygiene.

Do not eat raw or undercooked animal products.

According to the WHO website, it may be possible that the virus can be spread by people who are not currently showing any symptoms. This is not yet confirmed, but only suspected. This is why our additional advice is to avoid unnecessary crowded areas and travelling abroad unless absolutely necessary.

As we mentioned, there is currently no medicine discovered to cure the coronavirus. It is believed that people with weaker immune system are more susceptible to the virus. This is why it’s important to maintain healthy immune system able to fight off any viruses.

Some measures that are said to help boost your immunity are:

Good personal hygiene
Regular exercise
Clean air whenever possible
Drinking lots of water
Keeping your home and workspace clean
Fresh air in your home and office - don’t rely on air conditioning, open windows regularly
Spending time in nature and getting enough sun when possible
Also, some food and herbs are believe to help maintain a healthy immune system. We cannot promise that those will prevent any sickness or virus, if you are in doubt, consult a physician
Green tea
Peppermint tea
Fresh garlic
Vitamin C containing foods such as tomatoes, red peppers, oranges
Cat’s claw herb
Chili peppers - green and red
Pickled foods - lots of probiotics
Extracts of bee pollen and propolis
Ehinacea

It is strongly believed that consuming raw or undercooked animal products is risky. We would encourage you to reduce your meat and other animal products intake and cook well anything you will consume.