Page 43 - OVA INTEGRAL COVID-19

infection by washing your hands or using an alcohol based rub frequently and not touching
your face.

The COVID-19 virus spreads primarily through droplets of saliva or discharge from the
nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes, so it’s important that you also practice
respiratory etiquette (for example, by coughing into a flexed elbow).

At this time, there are no specific vaccines or treatments for COVID-19. However, there are
many ongoing clinical trials evaluating potential treatments. WHO will continue to provide
updated information as soon as clinical findings become available.

Main concepts
Coronavirus: This term refers to a category of viruses that can cause fever, breathing
difficulties, pneumonia, and diarrhea. Some are potentially fatal. Others can cause a certain
percentage of common colds. The name comes from the Latin word "corona," which means
crown. Under a microscope, these viruses are characterized by circles with spikes ending in
little blobs.

Isolation: Separating infected and sick individuals from healthy individuals. Hospitals
commonly put sick patients in isolation to prevent the spread of disease.

Quarantine: The separation or restriction of movement of individuals who appear to be
healthy but may have been exposed to an infectious disease to see if they become sick. The
length of the quarantine depends on the incubation period for the disease. During the Ebola
outbreak, for example, it was 21 days.

Infect: affect a human or animal with a disease-causing organism.

Social distancing: practice of encouraging people to minimize contact and closeness,
whether by banning large or even small groups/meetings (football matches, nightclubs), or
by maintaining a minimum distance between people (for example one metre or two metres)

Pandemic: An epidemic spanning many countries and/or several continents. The difference
between an outbreak, an epidemic and a pandemic can be murky and depends on the
opinions of scientists and health officials.

Mask: a piece of fibre or cloth that fits over the nose and mouth to protect other people
from the wearer's germs and/or the wearer from germs in the air.
Pathogen: a micro-organism or germ such as a bacterium or virus that can cause disease

12