What Pregnant women and New Parents must know about the Coronavirus Pandemic?

Coronaviruses, in general, are a large family of viruses that can cause illness like a common cold, and severe diseases like Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The new coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) is a disease that is caused by SARS-CoV-2. It is a new strain that has been not identified in humans earlier.

The name Corona originated from the Latin word “Corona” which means “Crown or Halo” and it refers to the shape of the virus particle when viewed under a microscope. There are different types of coronaviruses. Some of them can cause colds or other mild respiratory illness while some are very dangerous, they can cause serious diseases like MERS and SARS, as mentioned above.

Symptoms of Novel Coronavirus

Like past coronaviruses, this Novel Coronavirus too causes respiratory illnesses and the symptoms affect respiratory health. However, as per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the main symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough, breathing trouble, muscle torment, and tiredness. People with more serious cases develop severe pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, sepsis, and septic shock.

According to the most recent data, it is said that the virus can cause mild, influenza-like symptoms just as different diseases like pneumonia, respiratory failure and so on.

How does the ‘Novel’ Coronavirus spread?

Coronaviruses are common in animals of all kinds, however, they can sometimes evolve into forms that can affect humans. The novel Coronavirus generally gets transmitted from human to human through secretions – the spit and snot which humans spew while they cough and sneeze. According to the experts, the virus can also spread by touching contaminated surfaces like the doorbell, doorknob, lift switches, etc. that are infected by a person carrying novel Coronavirus disease.

A report from WHO says that the human-to-human transmission of this novel Coronavirus occurs with a preliminary estimate of 1.4-2.5. Current estimates of the incubation period of the coronavirus are said to be from 2 to 14 days. In general, older people and persons with underlying conditions are expected to be at more risk of developing severe symptoms from this novel Coronavirus.

Origin of Novel Coronavirus

On December 31, 2019, China cautioned WHO concerning a couple of cases of unusual pneumonia in Wuhan, the port city of the Hubei region in China. At that time the virus was unknown to them. But on January 5, the Chinese officials ruled out that this is a possible cause of severe acute respiratory syndrome virus, which came in the year 2002-2003 and killed 770 people worldwide.

On January 7 the officials identified that they had invented a novel virus that had a place with the coronavirus family and named it 2019-nCoV. The first death from this virus happened in China, and later countries like Japan, Thailand reported to have confirmed cases of the coronavirus. Over the following days, many countries including the United States, Nepal, France, Malaysia, South Korea are said to have cases of the novel Coronavirus in their country. And since then, the virus has spread in various nations that include some countries from Europe, Asia, America, and Africa.

There is a lot of information available Online what should I do?

Yes, there is indeed a lot of information available online regarding novel Coronavirus. You can either follow them or go through the following points if you wish to keep yourself protected from the virus.

If you are in an area affected by COVID-19 or in close contact with someone who got infected in last few weeks, and is showing symptoms like cough, sneezing, and is facing difficulty in breathing, then you can:

• Avoid contacting with others.
• Avoid traveling far or nearby places in a group.
• Cover your face with a mask or sleeve when coughing or sneezing.
• Wash your hands using soap or sanitizer for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based sanitizer if you don’t have soap or water near you.

Follow these tips to prevent COVID-19

One of the best and simplest ways to protect yourself from COVID-19 is to prevent being exposed to the virus. As of now, there is no vaccine available for this deadly virus. CDC recommends that people must avoid all essential travel and large events, where there are chances of people coming closer to each other, and also maintain social distancing. These are few ways through which you can avoid getting affected by the coronavirus. Some examples of social distancing include canceling mass gatherings, partying with friends, postponing conferences, working from home, and meeting your friends and relatives via video conferencing, etc.

Everyday preventive activities are essential to help prevent or stop the spreading of respiratory viruses, including cold virus (flu) and COVID-19. Apart from these, there are few precautionary measures which you can take like:

• Washing your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds and use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available.
• Avoid touching your face with unwashed hands.
• Abstain from coming closer in contact with individuals who are sick.
• Remain at home in the event that you are feeling sick.
• Always cover your cough and sneeze with a tissue and threw it in the dustbin after using it once.
• Clean and disinfect now and again contacted items and surfaces.

Is COVID-19 virus Dangerous to Children?

Although the reported cases of spread of novel Coronavirus among children are very few, the pace with which it is spreading all over the world has worried parents, especially new moms and dads. There are currently no vaccines available for the novel Coronavirus, so, therefore, it becomes important for parents to protect their Babies from getting affected by it. Here are a few ways through which you can protect your Babies from getting infected from COVID-19.

Small Babies are exposed to COVID-19 when the Coronavirus contacts their eyes, hands, nose, mouth, and lungs. This can happen when a nearby person infected with COVID-19 sneezes or coughs and releases respiratory droplets into the air or on the child’s face or any nearby area.

So the best way to protect your child from getting sick is by avoiding them to move into public places like crowds and keeping them away from sick peoples.

Tips for Babies and Family members

• How to Wash Hands: Parents must teach their Babies to wash hands properly and make it a regular habit. They should train their children to wash hands with cleanser or mild water for at least 20 seconds.
• When to Wash Hands: Parents must show their children to wash hands following utilizing the bathroom, after sniffling, coughing, cleaning out their nose and before eating. Babies must also make it a habit to wash their hands after coming from playing outside.
• Encourage Babies to Wash hands: Not all Babies are the same, there are many who refuse to wash their hands even after saying them repeatedly. To such Babies, parents must encourage by presenting them some rewards, every time after they wash their hands. Complementing them for doing a good job would encourage them to do the task every day.
• Covering Face with Hands: If parents are really worried about their Babies, they must encourage every member of their family to cough and sneeze by covering their faces by their hands and later wash them with soap. They must also make a habit of throwing used tissues.
• Abstain from Touching Face: Parents must teach their children to abstain from contacting their faces as much as they can. Making their Babies play with toys could be the best possible way to keep children’s hands busy. However, parents must ensure they wash the toys every time after their kid has used them.
• Keeping Things Clean: Wipe down toys and other essential Babies items every time after your Babies use them. This must be done without fail when traveling or sitting near a sick person. Parents must also ensure that floors and other surfaces within their homes are always clean.

Caring Children with Medical Conditions

If your kid is going through any medical treatment or is having any respiratory-related problems, then as the parent, you must take additional care of your child to protect him/her from COVID-19. Youngsters with Asthma or influenza may have severe symptoms from COVID-19. Guardians ought to watch them cautiously, and if necessary should take them for a clinical checkup more than once a week, and give them proper medications.

Though there are still many things yet to be understood about the COVID-19, and its consequences on children’s’ health, it becomes important for parents to keep their children safe from COVID-19 and prevent the virus from getting spread.

Babies and Toddlers

Since the spread of COVID-19, we have heard that it has taken the lives of many elderly people as well as young adults. But have you ever thought about babies and pregnant women? Do they have the risk of getting affected by COVID-19?

The answer is short, little youngsters and infants will, in general, have a lot of lower risk of serious illness or chances of dying from the COVID-19.

Infants and toddlers are fairly at low risk from getting affected with COVID-19, but not as quiet as older children. Babies have a lower risk of getting infected from COVID-19.

In general with respiratory viruses Babies appear to get unwell and are all the more frequently considered to spread disease, yet this doesn't seem, by all accounts, to be the situation with COVID-19.

“Undoubtedly children get infected, but their chance of getting affected with serious health issues from this is very low,” says Peter Collignon, a professor from Australian National University medical school.

Pregnant Women

As there is a change in the immune system of women during pregnancy, pregnant women are viewed as at high risk from diseases. But yet again, there is no proven evidence of the same. As indicated by an investigation and observation by Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists:

• Pregnant women don't seem to end up being more seriously unwell from COVID-19 than everybody.
• Infection doesn't appear to build the danger of unnatural birth cycle.
• There is no proof that the infection can go from pregnant mother to infant.
• There is no evidence that the infection will cause abnormalities in an unborn child.
• Cesarean territory or induction of labor doesn't seem, by all accounts, to be imperative to decrease the danger of transmission from mother to kid.
• A few infants destined to ladies with side effects of COVID-19 in China were conceived prematurely, yet it's unclear whether this was because of the infection or due to doctor’s choice.
• Newborn children and infants don't give off an impression of being at increased risk of complications.
• COVID-19 doesn't appear to go from mother to kid through breastmilk, so breastfeeding is as yet supported, despite the fact that ladies with the infection ought to be extra cautious with cleanliness and consider wearing a face mask while Breastfeeding.

How long the COVID-19 Stay in Clothes?

With the threat of COVID-19 looming all over the world, everyone is taking extra precautions that include sanitizing their home surfaces thoroughly, washing their hands every hour with soap or liquid hand wash, avoiding going to crowded places, keeping social distance, etc. However, there’s another thing which many of us shouldn’t neglect when it comes to cleaning, and they are our clothes.

Specialists are currently saying that the novel Coronavirus can live on our clothes for many hours or as long as a few days. While the novel Coronavirus survives for a long time on non-permeable surfaces, for example, stainless steel, the infection can absolutely continue to survive on delicate surfaces like clothing and blankets. More research is needed to be done to understand that up to what extent novel Coronavirus can keep going on garments, however, the Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) have both offered a few hints on how to keep your home and clothing germ-free.

To abstain from spreading of the novel Coronavirus, the CDC prescribes changing out the clothes as soon as you enter your home from outside, and advises that you promptly put them in the laundry for washing. In case you're taking care of dirty clothing from somebody who as of now has been infected by the novel Coronavirus, you have to take precautionary measures like, touching those clothes by wearing dispensable gloves, clean and purify those surfaces that these garments have come in contact with, and wash your hands completely for 20 seconds in the wake of touching the clothes.

The CDC additionally says that "if conceivable, wash things by utilizing the hottest suitable water and set them to make dry totally. Dirty clothes from an ill individual can be washed with others' things." You must not forget to clean hampers, as well—wipe down the inside and outside with a disinfectant wipe and clean the disposable bag liner in the clothes washer alongside other clothes.

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