How can I protect myself from getting infected by the new Novel coronavirus (Covid19)? Does wearing a medical mask helps in keeping away this Novel Coronavirus?

Question

With all the news about people dying from the new Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), it almost seem like something out of the movie "Contagion" (year 2011), where many people were dying from the infectious flu. Because this is an actual deadly virus flu which can kill people quickly, I am quite worried about what life is going to be like, wearing a mask everywhere I go.

I don't quite like the idea of wearing medical mask and breathing through it for 8 to 10 hours everyday. It makes me feel like we are living in Planet Mars and we need the mask to survive or else we could all perish. Although there are very few people infected with this coronavirus in Canada, but the thought that this virus spreads like wild fires and there are still no cure for the infected people, is a cause for big concern.

Businesses in Canada especially malls, restaurants, stores and other usually crowded public spaces are quite deserted these days, due to fears of this novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). We haven't come to the stage where anyone seen coughing and sneezing will be taken for quarantine but if this novel coronavirus were to really take roots in Canada, people seen coughing sneezing could be taken away for quarantine for 14 days or more.

I do have a very strong immune system according to my family physician, i actually have an overactive immune system which causes me to have unknown hives. My body even reacts to harmless food in the form of food allergy like Milk, Seafood, Eggs, Eggplant, Beef and Nuts. Now, with this strong immune system in a body, is it possible for someone to fight off this deadly novel coronavirus?

If someone is indeed infected with this novel coronavirus, what is the best way to survive this flu infection? Are there any cure or vaccines as of yet? Who is at risk of developing severe illness from being infected by this virus?

Answer 1

Wearing a mask to prevent yourself from contracting corona virus is a good and safe practise. Be warned that wearing the right type of mask matters a lot and that those simple surgical mask won't help much in preventing you from getting the corona virus. You will need those respiratory type of mask that completely filters the virus, in order to successfully prevent you from getting the corona virus.

Research have shown that the ordinary surgical mask you see people wearing on the streets does little to prevent you from getting infected with the corona virus. It actually helps people who already contracted the disease from spreading it further through their cough droplets going into the open air. Rather you should take care not to touch your mouth, nose and eyes often if you suspect your hand are dirty. There are no vaccines yet for this deadly corona virus and every care should be taken to avoid contracting the virus or the results could be deadly for you.

Some of the preventative ways to avoid getting the corona virus flu:

1. Always wash your hands with soap or use a sanitizer that contains alcohol to kill off the virus.

2. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth, since these three are the points of entry for the corona virus into your body. If you need to sneeze or cough, do so into a tissue paper or on your sleeve. Avoid spreading the virus and germs to other people in case you are already infected with the virus.

3. If you see other people sneezing and coughing, try to avoid them immediately and stay at least 6 feet away from them.

4. When you are feeling sick, you should stay at home in self isolation until you get well. Do not go out and spread the virus to other people.

5. Use a disinfectant to clean surfaces such as your house table, counter top, door knobs, plates, cup and other areas.

6. You can build up your immune system to prepare it to fight off the virus in case of infection. In order to build up your immune system, you need to get enough sleep daily, stat hydrated with lots of water, eat healthy food and daily supplements, reduce intake of processed food like can foods and preservatives foods.

Answer 2

What to do if you are already infected with Covid19 virus and are showing symptoms related to the coronavirus?

Take some advice and ideas from someone who has been infected with Covid19 virus and are battling it out with the coronavirus. This is the first hand experience of what the symptoms were for me and how I treated each symptoms as when they appeared. Remember that not everyone will experience the same symptoms or the same severity of the symptoms.

1. Light headed dizziness with bad headache:

I took "Crocin" tablet which contains "paracetamol" to control my headache and light headedness. The next morning, the bad headache was gone but the dizziness lingered for a few days.

2. Sneezing with runny nose and cough:

I took "Dimetapp-C" which contained "Brom/Codeine/Phenylephrine". This helped me with the runny nose and sneezing which disappeared the next day. However, the cough persisted.

3. Loss of smell and taste, Nausea, lack of appetite:

I had been having stomach acid reflux and was feeling some discomfort just below the chest sternum bone and above the stomach. Doctor prescribed "Pepcid" to handle the stomach acid reflux problem. Unknowingly this "Pepcid" also helped me get rid of the loss of smell, loss of taste, nausea and lack of appetite symptoms related to Coronavirus.

4. High fever of 38 Celsius frequently comes and go:

Drinking warm water frequently and also taking the above mentioned "Pepcid" tablet helped subdued my fever in 3 days time, which was gone completely after that.

5. Chills making me feel so cold:

I drank hot water or hot tea to keep my body from feeling the chills. Also I used extra blanket to keep warm during my sleep. Make sure you sleep enough everyday and drink plenty of warm water to hydrate yourself. A hot shower also helped in giving me warmth from the chill caused by the Coronavirus.

6. Sweating:

Whenever I started sweating instead of the chills, I pushed aside the blanket and opened the window a bit, to get some fresh air into the room. I also took a shower to remove the sweat from my body and changed into fresh clothing. Sweating mostly accompany high fever.

7. Very frequent urge to go to the washroom to poop:

This coronavirus somehow will make you feel like you got a ton of poop stuffed inside your stomach. Even after you have just finished pooping, within one hour, you will start having the urge to poop again. Sometimes for more than 10 times a day. I didn't have diarrhea luckily but just the urge to poop frequently was annoying enough.

Everyday I have been eating fresh yogurt about 100ml container which doesn't contain too much percentage of milk. My yogurt only contained about 1.25% milk content I believe. I read that yogurt gives a big boost to our body immune system which was quite true in my case. I could feel myself getting better day by day.

8. Lingering cough with varying intensity:

My cough was the only symptoms that lasted throughout my self isolation period. This cough sometimes would seem like they are about to be gone, and then the next moment I could feel it coming strong back again. My advise would be to avoid fried and spicy food completely.

At one point of time, I was getting better with my cough and then I had a craving for spicy food. I took the spicy food and next moment I know, my cough was back with a strong intensity.

For suppressing my cough, I took "Robitussin - For dry cough" and I find it works much better than "Dimetapp-C". This cough syrup can be bought over the counter and it doesn't make me feel too sleepy and tired. It also didn't mess up my appetite which "Dimetapp-C" did.

9. Difficulty breathing and coughing while talking:

This coronavirus causes coughing when a person is talking. I couldn't talk much because I was coughing a lot. But as soon as I stopped talking, my cough was controlled too. So I limited my talking to a minimum and spend a lot of time napping and sleeping instead.

I was also having difficulty breathing at times and I could feel one of my nose get stuffy. For these symptoms, I took "Robitussin - Dry cough" medicine and it sort of helped me with my breathing as well as my cough. At least I could feel the coolness in my lungs after taking the cough syrup.

Answer 3

Watch video on "Here are some quick tips and guides to protect yourself from getting the covid19 illness.":