The Coronavirus outbreak is currently making headlines all over the world. It’s important to learn as many Covid-19 facts as possible in order to stay safe and avoid the coronavirus disease. One should be able to ascertain relevant Covid-19 facts without the use of translation services, but the coronavirus disease, like any medical issues, can be difficult to understand.

Are you at risk of contagion from Covid-19? Can the coronavirus disease be transmitted by someone not showing any symptoms? To be forewarned is to be forearmed. While the first wave of the global pandemic seems to be coming to an end, a second wave may be here in the near future.

Here are 20 Facts You Might Not Have Not Known About The Coronavirus

1. Coronaviruses are actually group of viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds

In humans, the viruses cause respiratory infections – including the common cold – which are typically mild. Rarer forms such as SARS, MERS and the novel coronavirus can be lethal.

2.  In December 2019 a new Coronavirus, designated 2019-nCoV, was identified in Wuhan, China

Wuhan is the capital city of China’s Hubei province. This happened after 41 people developed pneumonia without a clear cause. This new COVID-19 strain that has not been previously been identified in humans. Little is known about it, although human-to-human transmission has been confirmed.

3. The name “Coronavirus” is derived from the Latin word corona

Corona means crown or halo. It refers to the characteristic appearance of the virus particles. They have a fringe reminiscent of a royal crown or of the solar corona.

4. You can’t get the virus from drinking Corona

There are actually some people who think that that this the Coronavirus is related to the Mexican beer brand Corona. It’s not.

5. More than 115 million million cases have been reported worldwide

The virus was first picked up in China and has spread to many Asian countries, as well as Australia, Europe, North America, the Middle East and South Africa. The majority of cases outside China are in the USA (where more than 29 million people have been infected), Spain, the UK, Italy, Russia, South Africa, Brazil, India, France & Germany. In fact, people have been infected in 188 countries around the world.

To date more than 115 million people have been infected worldwide and more than 2.5 million people have died. More than 91 milion people have recovered.

6. There are various Coronavirus symptoms

According to the World Health Organisation, signs of infection include fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, it can lead to pneumonia, SARS, kidney failure and even death. The incubation period of the Coronavirus remains unknown. Some sources say it could be between 10 and 14 days.

7. It’s likely that it’s not as deadly as SARS

Some scientists believe that the new Coronavirus is not as deadly as SARS. In case you forgot, SARS killed nearly 800 people worldwide in 2002-2003. More than 300 people died in China (where it originated). MERS, which did not spread as widely, was more deadly, killing one-third of those it infected. However, the new Coronavirus infection is more widespread than SARS in terms of case numbers in China.

8. Scientists are working on a Coronavirus vaccine

However, they have warned that one is unlikely to be available for mass distribution during the course of 2021.

9. Measures have been taken to stop it from spreading

Chinese authorities have effectively sealed off Wuhan. They have placed restrictions on travel to and from several other cities. This has affected about 56 million people. Many airlines have cancelled flights to China. Some countries have even banned Chinese nationals from entering and have evacuated their citizens from Wuhan.

Many countries around the world have introduced lockdowns and curfews to reduce human movement (to stop the spread of the virus).

10. There are 1.5 million confirmed Coronavirus cases in South Africa

The first case was reported early in March 2020. That number has risen to 1,515,262. 50,366 people have died so far. 1,434,772 people have recovered. This means that there are currently 31,124 active cases in the country.

Initially people who were infected were mostly people who traveled from Italy / China to South Africa, but this changed on the 17th of March 2020 when the first non-traveling South Africans tested positive for the virus.

South Africa have joined multiple countries that are on lockdown. The lockdown came into effect at midnight  on the 26th of March 2020. The list of countries that went on lockdown include the UK, India, Italy, Spain and Denmark. South Africa moved to level 1 of lockdown on the 21st of September 2020. International travel resumed from the 1st of October 2020.

There was a spike of infections from the end of December 2020. South Africa moved back to level 3 of lockdown (and banned alcohol sales for a third time) to flatten the curve and limit the spread of the virus. The alcohol ban was lifted on the 2nd of February 2021.

11. Lockdowns have slowed down economic activity in various countries around the world. This resulted in some quite significant job losses. More than 3 million people have lost their jobs in South Africa. This is bad. South Africa’s unemployment rate was already at nearly 30% before a lockdown was imposed. More than 121 million lost their jobs in India and more than 40 million people lost their jobs in the United States.

12. The Dow Jones and the FTSE saw their biggest quarterly drops in the first three months of the year since 1987. This was definitely due to the reduction in economic activity globally.

13. Demand for oil all but dried up as lockdowns across the world kept people inside. The crude oil price had already been affected by a row between Opec, the group of oil producers, and Russia. The Coronavirus pandemic drove the price down further.

14. Production on TV Shows and Movie shows have been halted to stop the spread of the Coronavirus.

15.  By the end of March 2020, the global film industry suffered a revenue loss of +/- $7 billion due to the coronavirus and its impact on industries around the world. Theaters closed, movie premieres were postponed, screenings were canceled and box offices were closed.  It’s estimated that the movie industry lost another $10 billion dollars in revenue (In April & May 2020).

16. The entertainment industry as a whole could be starting at a loss of $160 billion over the next 5 years (due to the effects of virus on the industry).

17. Hollywood set a world record with movie ticket sales in 2019. Tinseltown generated more than $42 billion in ticket sales last year. Hollywood is facing its worst financial year in 20 years.

18. The USA has recorded the biggest number of COVID-19 deaths to date: 531,662 (out of 29.4 million cases).

19. India has the 2nd highest count of COVID-19 infections: 11.1 million. 10.8 million people have recovered.

20. JCPenney, Hertz (the rental car company), Cirque du Soleil and various other companies that have been around for years have filed for bankruptcy in various countries around the world.

Bonus Facts:

21. Ster-Kinekor (the movie theatre chain in South Africa) has entered Business Rescue.

22. Greyhound stopped operating in South Africa on the 15th of February 2021. The bus transport service had been operating in South Africa for 37 years.

Well, there you have it, some interesting facts that you should know about the Coronavirus. I trust that you’ve found this info useful. If that’s the case, feel free to share this on your social profiles.

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