What Is Coronavirus?

Researchers are working on ways to halt the growing epidemic caused by a new coronavirus, and to develop a vaccine.  

Headlines around the world continue to spread news about the coronavirus pandemic, which has sickened people all around the world.  

Within a few months since the novel coronavirus was first known to be causing illness, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned countries to prepare for a pandemic. Many countries that had relaxed attempts to control the spread of the virus are contemplating or beginning to renew their efforts through this summer as the Delta variant spreads.

• For live statistical updates, visit this coronavirus tracker, with cases by state in the U.S. broken down here. You can also track the virus with the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering interactive virus dashboard and The New York Times' coronavirus map. You can find the number of cases in your country, updated daily, here.
  
• For more information on the virus itself and its effect on the U.S. population and the world at large, visit this special web page from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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So, what is coronavirus, specifically? The infectious agent in the news, first detected in Wuhan City, China, in late 2019, belongs to a large family of coronaviruses. The “corona” label comes from crown-like spikes seen on these pathogens when coronaviruses are under a microscope.

Mostly, coronaviruses infect bats, pigs, and some other small mammals. However, coronaviruses can mutate and move from only infecting animals to also infecting humans, what scientists call a “spillover event,” the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) explains. Then a coronavirus can be transmitted person-to-person.

The current pandemic is caused by a new type of coronavirus in humans, which WHO has named Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Because early reports of the initial COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan seemed associated with people who visited a large seafood and live animal market in the city, animal-to-person spread was believed to be the cause.

However, the CDC reports a growing number of people infected with COVID-19 did not have exposure to any animal markets, indicating person-to-person spread is how the disease is being transmitted, most likely from respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

Understanding the coronavirus

In all, there are hundreds of coronaviruses that infect animals and only seven coronaviruses known to sicken humans.

Most types of coronaviruses cause only mild-to-moderate upper respiratory tract illnesses in people, with symptoms much like the common cold, according to the NIAID. However, since 2002, three types of coronaviruses have caused severe disease in people: SARS (which was first recognized in late 2002 but disappeared by 2004); MERS (Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome), a disease found in camels that can sicken humans; and the current COVID-19 epidemic.

When people hear animals can have coronaviruses, there can be unfounded worries and rumors about pets potentially spreading the disease. Good news: There is no reason to think any animals or pets in the U.S. might be a source of infection with the new coronavirus, according to the CDC.

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We can’t emphasize this enough: Progress in halting the new coronavirus

The largest study to date on COVID-19 concluded, while the coronavirus can be fatal, those at highest risk are people who already have pre-existing health problems, especially cardiovascular illness. Men are also more likely to have a severe case of the disease than women. One study of the antivrial drug remdesivir may showed enough promise the Food and Drug Administration approved emergency use of the drug.

Chinese researchers analyzed the medical records of 72,314 patient diagnosed with the virus and found most confirmed cases were in adults between the ages of 30 and 69 and most were exposed to the coronavirus in Wuhan.

Over 80 percent of the confirmed COVID-19 cases were classified as mild, and fewer than 5 percent became critical (meaning the patients developed life-threatening problems, including respiratory failure, multiple organ dysfunction, or respiratory failure). However, half of the patients in critical condition died.

Scientists are drawing on what they learned from other outbreaks of coronavirus illness in humans — especially deadly SARS, which swept across the globe in 2003, primarily through air travel — to prevent the spread of COVID-19. And quarantines and travel restrictions, which were important to halting SARS, are in effect to keep the new coronavirus from spreading further.

What’s more, previous research into the SARS and MERS outbreaks is helping scientists to quickly assess the new coronavirus and find ways to prevent and hopefully treat COVID-19, the NIAID points out.

To that end, within two weeks of the discovery of the new coronavirus, NIAID researchers had already figured out how the virus enters cells, and a global effort was launched to contain, prevent, and treat the COVID-19.

According to CDC data, about 70 percent of Americans age 12 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine. About half are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus (specifically, you are deemed fully vaccinated if two weeks have passed since your second shot of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, or it’s been two weeks after you had the one-shot Johnson and Johnson version). Almost 90 percent of Americans at especially high risk because of their age — U.S. seniors 65 and older — have had at least one shot of the vaccine, and about 80 percent are fully vaccinated.

And the number of vaccinated Americans is rising daily.

You should also be aware that even if you’ve had the two-shot or the one-shot versions of a vaccine, information about whether you need a booster shot is still developing.

If you are vaccinated or planning to get the shot soon, your top concerns about the new CDC guidelines likely revolve around what you can now do safely.

Bottom line: Common sense virus prevention strategies are key

First off, get vaccinated for COVID-19.

If you’ve followed the course of COVID-19 in the U.S. and the fluctuating guidelines from the CDC, reported as the course of the coronavirus pandemic has changed, it’s no surprise that the latest guidelines have resulted in some renewed controversy.

The bottom line is the guidelines are not federal mandates, and states can make their own guidelines. Since May when the previous guidelines were released, several states did away with mask requirements for vaccinated people and some backed off any mask requirements. Other states never had any requirements at all. (With the Delta variant spreading, however, some states and local governments are re-introducing mask requirements.)

With the revised guidelines, you will need to check with your state’s board of health to see whether there are required rules for mask wearing, even for those who are vaccinated. Some areas have already made changes. For example, Los Angeles announced a new policy. City employees must now either offer proof of vaccination or submit to weekly COVID-19 tests. New York City employees and medical workers for the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs must follow similar requirements. President Joe Biden has also mandated that federal employees and contractors who work at government facilities must either show proof of vaccination or wear masks at all times and submit to regular testing for COVID-19.

And the requirements keep changing.

It’s important to note that many states and local governments haven’t responded immediately about changing any public health guidance related to wearing masks and any other corona virus-related health mandates.

CDC evolving travel guidelines

When it comes to travel, the CDC guidelines were updated due to growing evidence the vaccines are very effective and showing real world protection.

The latest travel guidelines from the CDC apply to the fully vaccinated:

• For travel in the U.S., you do not need to get a COVID test before or after your trip, and you don’t need to self-quarantine after travel.
• If you are traveling internationally, make sure you have researched the situation at your international destination — is COVID surging ore not? Has the country you are visiting enacted any new rules about quarantines or masks?
• You do not need to have a COVID test before leaving the U.S., unless the country to which you are traveling requires one. You are, however, still required to show a negative test result for the coronavirus, or documentation of recovery from COVID-19, before you board an international flight back to the U.S.
• The CDC still recommends getting a COVID test three to five days after you return from international travel.

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