Your most pressing questions about COVID-19 answered
The unknown can be a powerful catalyst for anxiety. Because of the vast array of sources we now turn to for information and news in the 21st century, trying to obtain factual and un-sensationalized information can be difficult. For this reason, Edina Plastic Surgery will be addressing some of the most popular questions about Coronavirus each week. We intend to present honest, factual, and informative answers to help educate our patients. We believe that one of the best remedies to the anxieties of the unknown is knowledge.
Question 1 – Should I or shouldn’t I wear a face mask in public?
The CDC has recently changed its position on whether or not the general public should wear face masks. They now recommend that you wear a “cloth face covering” when visiting public areas where social distancing is difficult, such as the grocery store. It is still not recommended that the general public purchase medical face masks, as these are still desperately needed by medical workers who come in contact with patients who test positive for COVID-19. A proper face mask may protect you from droplet viral transmission.
CLICK HERE for CDC instructions on how to make a face mask out of t-shirt and rubber bands. Make sure to wash your mask after every use. CLICK HERE for instructions.
The real purpose of a face mask is not for YOUR protection, but to actually protect those around you if you are positive for COVID-19 and do not know it, or are asymptomatic. Because the Coronavirus can live on hard surfaces for up to 3 days, it is still possible to contract the virus even if you are wearing a face mask regularly.
Question 2 – Can I contract COVID-19 from my pet or vice versus?
Many of us have heard the recent story about a tiger testing positive for COVID-19. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), there have been no reports of pets or livestock becoming ill with COVID-19 in the United States, and only four reported cases in the world of dogs and cats testing positive for the virus. However, the AVMA recommends that if you are sick with COVID-19 that you restrict any contact with pets and livestock animals as a precaution. The tiger at the Bronx Zoo is thought to have contracted the virus from an asymptomatic zoo employee.
Question 3 – Can someone who has the virus but doesn’t know it, or is asymptomatic, still spread COVID-19?
YES. Respiratory droplets can transmit the virus. When we speak, many of us spit just a little. We also touch our noses, eyes, and mouths frequently and then touch hard surfaces. These types of transmission spread the virus even if the host presents zero symptoms.
Question 4 – Should everyone really be staying at home right now?
If ever a situation called for the idiom “better safe than sorry,” the COVID-19 crisis may be it. Forty states across the country now have varying degrees of Stay at Home orders. These measures are for your protection and the protection of the people around you.
Most of these states allow for exceptions such as visiting the grocery store, pharmacy, exercising outdoors, and helping a loved one as long as social distancing is still observed.
Questions 5 – How many people with the Coronavirus don’t even know they have it?
Like we previously mentioned, someone can be infected with COVID-19 and never present symptoms. According to research published in the Journal of Science, 4 out of every 5 people who contracted the virus in China became infected by someone close to them who was asymptomatic. This finding is perhaps, why the virus was able to spread so quickly.
In March, the CDC also released a statement saying that half of the 712 people infected with the Coronavirus on the Princess Cruise ship did not present any symptoms when they tested positive.
Unfortunately, due to the shortage of test kits in the United States, only those who currently present symptoms for COVID-19 are tested. Hopefully, enough kits will soon be available for everyone to be tested, regardless of whether they present symptoms or not.
Do you have a particular question or concern about the Coronavirus that you would like our surgeons to discuss? If so, please comment on this blog or send us an email at info@edinaplasticsurgery.com.
