01/04/2020
We've all heard some pretty scary rumors about COVID-19, but not all we hear is true, so let’s set the record straight. How contagious and deadly is COVID-19?
First off, the virus is shedded through respiratory droplets, which are very easily transmitted through direct contact between people and by touching contaminated surfaces. Now, the good news is that most people experience mild symptoms. The bad news is that the virus can also be transmitted before symptoms appear, so infected people might be walking around spreading the virus without even knowing it. The currently estimated R0 is between 1.5 and 3.5, which is the number of people that can be infected, on average, by one infected person.
Up to now, COVID-19 seems to mostly kill elders and people with comorbidities like diabetes or heart or lung disease, with an estimated fatality between 0.7% and 3.4%. Keep in mind that these numbers keep changing every day, and we may soon find out that COVID-19 is less deadly than we think, since most people have mild symptoms and therefore don’t seek medical attention.
Less deadly than previous pandemics like SARS, H1N1, and Ebola. Eventually, we got a handle on all of them, so don’t panic!
(c) Osmosis
