Exactly what is COVID-19?
It is a strand of cold virus that gets into the lungs and makes them very stiff.
Dr. Zaki Ahmed is with the Thunder Bay Regional Hospital, and tells us while most of the population to get the virus will get mild cases and recover, a much smaller percent won’t.
“Three and a half to 4% of the people will need very severe treatment like ventilation for significant lung disease,” pointed out the doctor.
He says COVID-19, which stems from coronavirus, is believed to come from bats.
“It causes what is called Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, which makes the lungs very, very stiff. And as you can imagine when we breathe in and out, our lungs are expanding and contracting,” said Dr. Ahmed.
He adds those with severe cases needing a ventilator still don’t get much relief, while how many of us will get the virus will largely depend on how well we isolate ourselves.
As with countless health officials and politicians, Dr. Ahmed also stresses the need to keep two metres, or six feet apart as cold or sneeze particles can travel that distance from a person.
There is also the comparison to past pandemics, such as the H1N1 flu from a few years ago. Dr. Ahmed points out COVID-19 will leave a greater impact globally than the over 284,000 people who died from H1N1.
“We did see the huge increase of 24% of the population who got it across the world. That was much more than what corona is right now, but corona hasn’t come completely through yet,” says the medical doctor.
