COVID-19 is an ongoing crisis and a scary one at that. It’s even classified as a pandemic, due to how COVID-19 is widely spread across many countries.
Perhaps the first thing to understand about COVID-19 is that there’s a lot we don’t know. The virus itself is new, especially from a medical perspective. We know a decent amount about respiratory illnesses and coronaviruses in general, that’s true, but the specifics of COVID-19 are still being discovered.
We’re learning about this virus as it is making its way through the world – which is one reason why governmental responses are so very different. No one knows the best way to respond to this virus. We’re figuring it out as we go.
In this post, I’m going to look in-depth at some of the information that is out there about the virus – particularly how it plays out on a global scale.
We’ve talked about the basics of COVID-19 on this site before. You can check out some of our posts in the list below:
- Which foods you should actually stock up on
- A different perspective on the COVID-19 lockdown
- Useful information and articles about COVID-19
- Staying sane during the COVID-19 crisis
This piece isn’t going to cover the same ground – and you’ve probably heard the basics about the virus elsewhere anyway. The one thing that I do want to highlight is the symptoms of the virus.
Fever | 87.9% |
Dry cough | 67.7% |
Fatigue | 38.1% |
Sputum production | 33.4% |
Shortness of breath | 18.6% |
Muscle pain or joint pain | 14.8% |
Sore throat | 13.9% |
Headache | 13.6% |
Chills | 11.4% |
Nausea or vomiting | 5.0% |
Nasal congestion | 4.8% |
Diarrhea | 3.7% |
Haemoptysis | 0.9% |
Conjunctival congestion | 0.8% |
Just remember that all of these symptoms occur in a variety of other conditions too. Some can even be caused by stress, so the presence of some symptoms doesn’t necessarily mean that you have the condition.
The incubation time for the virus is thought to be up to 14 days. This means that it can take up to 14 days for a person to start showing symptoms.
However, the mean incubation time is lower, often between three and five days.
This is a longer incubation time than many other viruses (for example, SARS had an incubation period of two to seven days, while the seasonal flu has an incubation time of just two days).
The long incubation time is one reason that the virus has been difficult to contain. It’s hard to trace who has the virus when symptoms take so long to show up.
What About a Vaccine and Treatment?
The United States and many other countries are now in the middle of a vaccine rollout.
We’ll soon be posting a detailed examination of the vaccines, so we won’t cover them in much depth here. The most important thing to mention is that the vaccines have been thoroughly tested.
They were developed much faster than vaccines usually are, but this wasn’t because shortcuts were taken. Instead, the vaccine type is faster to produce and some processes were conducted simultaneously, rather than progressively.
The United States currently has two vaccines. They’re compared in the table below. Both follow a mRNA style and two doses are needed.
Key points about the vaccines:
- The vaccines probably aren’t a one-shot deal. People may need additional vaccinations later, especially if new variants of the virus emerge.
- Vaccinations don’t guarantee that you won’t get the virus. They dramatically lower the chance, but you could still get sick.
- If you do contract COVID-19 and are vaccinated, your symptoms may be less serious and the risk of a serious version of the infection may be lower.
- While vaccination should decrease the spread of COVID-19 (and already appears to be having that effect), people who are vaccinated may still spread the virus. This is why social distancing and masks are still recommended, even after you have been vaccinated.
Also, the vaccines have side effects. Some of these are highlighted below.
Side effects like these are common and they’re not something to be concerned about. Many of them happen because the vaccine is stimulating your immune system. Seeing no effects at all after the vaccine would be much more concerning.
There are cases of anaphylactic shock following the vaccine. This side effect is very rare. While anaphylactic shock is dangerous, it can be treated. Vaccine sites have various processes in place to watch out for anaphylaxis and respond immediately should it occur.
Treating COVID-19
As for treatment, the main approach is to allow the body to fight the virus itself. Many people are able to safely do so at home with no medical support.
If someone is hospitalized, then they may need more, including intensive care, monitoring, or respiratory support. Some people need to be placed on mechanical ventilators for a week or more.
Serious infections are most likely in people who are older than 70 and those who have one or more chronic conditions, particularly conditions that impact the immune system. However, serious infections can occur in anyone and young people have died from the virus too.
Thankfully, relatively few people develop serious forms of the disease and with hospital treatment many recover.
There have been concerns about the availability of medical supplies, ventilators, and hospital beds. A shortage in availability could mean that people die from the virus that might have recovered otherwise. This is why virus hotspots are closely monitored. It’s crucial that population needs don’t overtake the available resources.
How Bad Is COVID-19 Really?
There is a lot of debate about this pandemic. While many people are deeply concerned about COVID-19, there are also claims that the virus isn’t nearly as bad as the media suggests. There are claims of fearmongering and even conspiracy.
So, what’s going on?
Conspiracy Theories
Conspiracy theories seem have taken off with COVID-19. It’s easy to see why too.
After all, the virus itself is invisible to the naked eye and the same symptoms can be seen with plenty of other conditions. The main way to know whether someone has COVID-19, versus a cold or a similar condition, is a test.
Some of the key conspiracy theories, misinformation, and concerns include the following:
- COVID-19 doesn’t exist or is being greatly exaggerated. The deaths being reported are the result of other conditions or have been made up.
- Governments are using the idea of COVID-19 to control their populations.
- The virus is real, but it isn’t natural. Instead, it was engineered, perhaps as a bioweapon.
- COVID-19 vaccines are a way of injecting unknown chemicals or tracking agents into people.
- The virus has a very low death rate and is no worse than the seasonal flu.
You’ve probably heard others too.
These ideas have little basis in fact. Some are based on simple concepts that have been blown out of proportion or misconstrued. Others are entirely fear-based and have no factual basis whatsoever.
Government Responses are Inconsistent
Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that government responses to COVID-19 are often inconsistent. This is particularly true in the United States, where you may see different responses as the local, state, and federal levels.
Official policies and recommendations also change over time, complicating matters further.
It’s easy to read these differences as evidence that the government isn’t being reasonable and is manipulating the population.
There’s a simpler explanation though – COVID-19 is new. We’ve never dealt with this particular virus before or with such a widespread virus in an interconnected global community.
The truth is that no one really knows what they’re doing. Not yet. Researchers, governments, and policy makers are still trying to figure out the best possible approaches. Doing so takes time and research. Opinions will differ along the way. Mistakes will be made.
None of this means that the government is inept or that we should ignore them.
Instead, the government is providing the best guidance given current knowledge. As more information comes in, the recommendations will change accordingly.
The Death Rate is Low
The rate of deaths from COVID-19 is lower than many other conditions. The death rates vary depending on location, but are almost always less than 5%. For people below 50 years of age, the death rates are very low indeed.
Now, these rates aren’t 100% accurate. They’re based on the people who we know had the virus and died from it. But, COVID-19 doesn’t always present with symptoms and the symptoms can be subtle.
There may be many people who contracted COVID-19 and recovered without ever being tested for it. If that’s the case, then the death rate is even lower than those rates.
COVID-19 is Still Very Serious
Don’t let the death rate fool you. The percentage of people dying from COVID-19 might be low, but the virus is still very serious.
After all, many many people are contracting it. We’re currently looking at more than 114 million cases throughout the world. More than 28 million of these are in the United States. So, even if the percentages are low, we’re seeing a lot of people dying from the virus.
Survival doesn’t tell the story either.
While the vast majority of people survive COVID-19, this doesn’t mean that they are unaffected. Long-term effects of the virus are beginning to emerge, including fatigue, coughs, joint pain, headaches, and depression. There are some more severe long-term effects too, like acute kidney injury, damage to lung function, and heart inflammation.
We don’t know how long those effects will last or how many people suffer them.
It could be that some people live with the effects of COVID-19 for most of their lives.
What Will Happen Next?
There’s still a lot we don’t know.
We don’t know how effective the vaccines will be. We don’t know how much the virus will mutate and if/when additional vaccines will be needed.
We don’t know how effective lockdowns are in the long-term or what the best approaches are.
Governments are still working out how to balance the needs of the population versus the rights of individuals. This is tricky, as we need to slow down the spread of the virus to protect the population, but not everyone agrees on how to do so. There’s also the risk that those who don’t believe in COVID-19 ignore the rules and put everyone in danger.
Still, there is some good news.
The more time passes, the more information we have about the virus and how to fight it. Experts are pulling together across nations to figure this thing out. Vaccine rollouts have started throughout the world. More vaccines and treatments for COVID-19 will be developed over time.
We’re also starting to see decreases in COVID-19 death rates, especially in nursing homes.
And, in the end, humans are resilient. We have been through many things as a species. COVID-19 is just one of them. The pandemic can seem scary and overwhelming right now, but one day it will be a memory.
What we can do right now is to take care of ourselves and follow the rules. For caregivers, this may sometimes involve being apparently ‘selfish’ and focusing on self-care. Indeed, focusing on the positive and finding good ways to spend your time are essential tools for doing well in the middle of this current situation.
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