Covid-19 is a new type of coronavirus. Although many people are referring to this crisis as ‘coronavirus’, we will call it Covid-19 in this article.

You can read about the differences between flu, the common cold, and Covid-19 in our article here: https://rightforeducation.org/2020/03/30/coronavirus-different/. A common cold is a very minor illness, but both the flu and the new coronavirus can become very serious.

COVID-19 IS NEW, BY THE FLU AND COLDS ARE NOT

Scientists have been studying the flu and the common cold for years, meaning that there are lots of treatments available for them. Most importantly, every year, new flu vaccines are produced. This is because the type of flu going round often changes. Having the vaccine will not stop all flu viruses, but it will stop some of them. And, if you do get the flu after being vaccinated, it is likely to be shorter and milder than it would otherwise have been. This is particularly good for people who would otherwise be vulnerable to very severe flu, like adults aged 65 and over. You can read about how vaccines work in our article here: https://rightforeducation.org/2016/04/05/vaccination-the-science-behind-it/.

Covid-19 is new, meaning there is no vaccination against it. It could be as long as a year, maybe more, before we develop a vaccine against it. Because it is new, our communities also have no collective immunity against it. This means that nobody has had the virus before and so nobody’s immune system is prepared to deal with it. This is known as ‘herd immunity’. When enough people in a community are immune to the virus, they can protect those who aren’t. There is no herd immunity against Covid-19.

IT IS HARDER TO STOP THE SPREAD OF COVID-19

It is harder to stop the spread of Covid-19

Covid-19 has spread very quickly around the world. There are three main reasons for this. First, because nobody has immunity to Covid-19 and nobody has been vaccinated, everyone can catch it, so it is easy for the virus to find new people to infect.
Second, Covid-19 is thought to be 2x more contagious than the flu, meaning that it passes more easily from person to person.
Third, Covid-19 has a much longer incubation period than the flu. An ‘incubation period’ is the time when you have a virus but do not show symptoms of it, so you may not know you have it. It can take up to 14 days to get symptoms of coronavirus after you already have it, but only up to 4 for the flu. This means that people who have it can spend a much longer time spreading it at school, work, and in their community, without realising it. They will pass it on to more people. This is why many governments are banning large gatherings, such as sports events or religious services – people attending these events could have coronavirus without realising. For example, as of the 13th March 2020, Kenya has banned all major public events after confirming its first case of Covid-19.
The fact that the number of cases is rising so quickly makes Covid-19 very dangerous – because the number of people infected can quickly overwhelm healthcare systems. If the healthcare system cannot cope with the number of patients, people may die from illnesses that would usually be treated – for example because there are not enough beds in the hospital, or not enough oxygen or breathing machines to treat everyone who needs them.

COVID-19 CAN CAUSE MORE SERIOUS COMPLICATIONS THAN FLU

Every year, around 2 out of 100 people who catch the flu are hospitalized. If they are hospitalized, it means that the virus causes them serious and dangerous complications. For this coronavirus, it seems that up to 19 out of 100 of people who catch it are hospitalised. It is estimated that Covid-19 is 30x more deadly than the flu.

This means that the best way to protect yourself and your family against Covid-19 is to try to avoid getting it in the first place. You should wash your hands with soap and water (hot, if possible) for 20 seconds after you use the toilet and before you eat. You should also try to avoid touching your face. If you need to cough or sneeze, you should do it into your elbow. And, if you think you have Covid-19, you should try to avoid other people as much as possible, particularly those who are most vulnerable to it.

We all have to work together to stop the spread of Covid-19.