{"id":805429,"date":"2020-03-18T22:24:05","date_gmt":"2020-03-19T04:24:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=380706"},"modified":"2020-03-18T22:24:05","modified_gmt":"2020-03-19T04:24:05","slug":"qa-answers-to-your-coronavirus-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/qa-answers-to-your-coronavirus-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Q&A: Answers to your coronavirus questions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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An isolation room is pictured at St. Anthony Summit Medical Center in Frisco on March 6.<\/strong>
Liz Copan \/ ecopan@summitdaily.com<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Editor\u2019s note: The Summit Daily News will host a live webinar answering common questions about the new coronavirus at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 19. The webinar will be available to view at SummitDaily.com\/coronavirus<\/a> as well as live-streamed on our Facebook page at Facebook.com\/summitdailynews<\/a>. Attendees will have the chance to submit questions during the webinar, and answers to the questions will be added below.<\/em><\/p>\n

What does it mean to flatten the curve<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

In a scenario where a lot of people get sick over a short period of time, the estimated 15% of cases that require hospitalization are likely to overwhelm public health resources, including hospitals, which has happened in Italy. If the same number of people get sick over a longer period of time, hospitals are better equipped to meet the demand.<\/p>\n

Learn more: Why outbreaks like coronavirus spread exponentially, and how to \u201cflatten the curve\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

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The horizontal axis represents time and the vertical axis represents cases. The green curve is the flattened curve, representing the same amount of cases but over a longer period of time. <\/strong>
Social distancing, flatten the curve Coronavirus COVID-19 preventing a sharp peak of infections, medical workers work to flatten the curve to slow COVID-19 infection for enough health care capacity.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

What is social distancing and how does coronavirus spread?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Social distancing is maintaining a distance of 6 or more feet between people. This prevents people from coming into contact with others\u2019 respiratory droplets, which are produced when someone coughs or sneezes. Respiratory droplets are considered the primary way COVID-19 spreads.<\/p>\n

Learn more: How COVID-19 spreads<\/a><\/p>\n

What is the difference between isolation and quarantine?<\/strong><\/p>\n

People who have COVID-19 symptoms should be in isolation, whether at home or at the hospital, in order to prevent spreading the disease to others. Quarantine is for people who\u2019ve had close contact with positive cases of COVID-19 but do not have symptoms. Putting people in self-quarantine is a cautionary measure to help keep the disease from spreading if those people do become infected.<\/p>\n

Learn more: Quarantine and isolation<\/a><\/p>\n

What is the difference between coronavirus, COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2?<\/strong><\/p>\n

COVID-19, which stands for coronavirus disease 2019, is caused by a virus named SARS-CoV-2, a type of coronavirus. Coronaviruses can cause the common cold or more severe diseases such as SARS, MERS and COVID-19, the latter of which first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China. The World Health Organization has declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic, the first caused by a coronavirus.<\/p>\n

Learn more: Naming the coronavirus disease and the virus that causes it<\/a><\/p>\n

What is community spread?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Community spread means the virus is passing from person to person within the Summit County community.<\/p>\n

What is contact tracing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

When a person tests positive for COVID-19, local health officials interview that person to find out where they\u2019ve been and with whom they\u2019ve had contact. Anyone who has had close contact in a confined space for more than 10 minutes with someone who tests positive will be contacted by county public health officials and likely asked to self-quarantine. The public health risk to anyone else is considered low.<\/p>\n

Learn more: What is contact tracing and why is it important?<\/a><\/p>\n

Why isn\u2019t more information being released about those who have tested positive?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Summit County health officials no longer will release demographic information \u2014 including age, gender and residency \u2014 about new cases because providing that information would be too taxing on health officials who are focused on investigating and managing the public health crisis. Officials also noted that age data, specifically, wouldn\u2019t accurately reflect the outbreak because only at-risk groups are being tested.<\/p>\n

Health officials also will not release information about where a person visited before testing positive because they believe it would cause \u201cunnecessary panic.\u201d<\/p>\n

How can I protect myself?<\/strong><\/p>\n