Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases like acute respiratory syndrome. They are named for having the shape of a crown surrounding the virus particle. A novel coronavirus is a newly identified coronavirus strain not previously recognized.
In 2019, a new coronavirus strain named COVID-19 originating in Wuhan, China, began causing severe and potentially fatal pneumonia and respiratory illness throughout the world. The 2019 Wuhan coronavirus is related to the coronaviruses that caused the epidemics severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS ) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).
As with outbreaks from those earlier epidemics, people in Wuhan and other outbreak cities rushed to buy surgical masks to wear in public in the hope of protecting themselves. But do face masks work to prevent the coronavirus contagion? They can help-although in a limited way-because of how the coronavirus spreads.
How does a coronavirus (COVID-19) spread?
Coronavirus originally spread from animals to humans and then from person to person. Researchers are trying to work out the variety of ways that the new coronavirus spread. COVID-19 had killed thousands in China as of early 2020 and also broke out in cities across the globe despite drastic quarantine measures.
Early in the epidemic, scientists had learned the following facts about the new virus' transmission:
Coronavirus spreads via respiratory droplets from an infected person.
You may be at risk when you are within 6 feet from the infected person.
Airborne respiratory droplets when the infected person coughs or sneezes can land on other people's mouth or nose and cause the virus to spread.
It may be possible to get infected by touching a surface or object that has the virus and then touching one's own mouth or nose.
Viruses may stay infectious on surfaces like door handles, etc., up to 9 days at room temperature.
Researchers think people are most contagious when they have the most severe symptoms.
People can be infectious before they start to show symptoms.