What is Corona Virus COVID-19
A new strain of Coronavirus (COVID-19) is a respiratory viral disease with symptoms including:
- Fever
- Cough
- shortness of breath
- difficulty breathing
Reported ailments have ranged from minor to severe, including pneumonia or even death. According to health authorities, there are currently no vaccines and no medications approved to treat COVID-19.
People are at risk of spreading COVID-19 when an infected person coughs or sneezes, releasing the virus into the air and inhaled. The risk of spreading also occurs when someone touches a contaminated surface or object and later touches their mouth, nose, or eyes. Once inside of the body, the virus has the opportunity to attack the lungs causing respiratory failures.
Places of concern where the risk of infection may be higher are houses, churches, hospitals, offices, public transportation, and more. These are many of the places where Loving Kindness serves our community, so we must be diligent and careful when providing services.
Our Response
Despite the epidemic and widespread outbreaks of Coronavirus, there is no need to panic; however, we must all be very concerned. We trust our medical professionals and leaders in our health care community to effectively find ways to detect, treat, and prevent COVID-19 in due time.
Loving Kindness is continuously keeping up with all the updates from the CDC and local health departments. We will be communicating updates to our emergency response policy and sending regular advisories to our staff, participants, patients, and the health care community.
Protecting Yourself
The CDC has provided recommendations to protect ourselves as researchers race for a cure and other prevention methods.
It is strongly advised that we limit social contact with individuals outside our immediate living spaces.
Our most significant advantage is our personal response to the risk of spreading illness and our commitment to healthy lifestyle habits. We should still avoid touching our eyes, mouth, and face with unclean hands. Consistently washing hands, using hand sanitizes that are 60% or more in Alcohol content, and wiping down surfaces to clean and disinfect is essential. These basic health precautions are vital to preserving our health during this time.
Making sure you are current with all your medications and vitamins, eating healthy food, and drinking plenty of fluids are also necessary measures.