See the latest articles from INTEGRIS On Your Health blog bringing news on COVID-19, messages from INTEGRIS Health, tips for staying safe and more.

On Your Health

• Oklahoma Coronavirus Disease Status
• Oklahoma Response to Coronavirus
  
• WHO Coronavirus Q&A
  
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Coronavirus Details
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Coronavirus Summary
• Coronavirus Update from the Mayo News Network

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There are currently no vaccines available to protect you against human coronavirus infection. Like any virus, you can reduce the chance of getting Coronavirus by doing the following:

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick

If you have cold or flu-like symptoms, you can help protect others by doing the following:

• Stay home while you are sick
• Avoid close contact with others
• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze, then throw the tissue in the trash and wash your hands
• Clean and disinfect objects and surfaces

For confirmed Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infections, reported illnesses have ranged from people being mildly sick to people being severely ill and dying.

Symptoms can include:

• Fever
• Cough
• Shortness of breath

CDC believes at this time that symptoms of 2019-nCoV may appear in as few as 2 days or as long as 14 after exposure. This is based on what has been seen previously as the incubation period of MERS viruses.

*Source- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

There are no specific treatments for illnesses caused by human coronaviruses. Most people with common human coronavirus illness will recover on their own. However, you can do some things to relieve your symptoms:

• Take pain and fever medications (Caution: do not give Aspirin to children)
• Use a room humidifier or take a hot shower to help ease a sore throat and cough

If you are mildly sick, you should:

• Drink plenty of liquids
• Stay home and rest

If you are concerned about your symptoms, you should see your INTEGRIS Health provider.

If you feel this is an emergency, call 9-1-1.

Please wear a mask in our facilities and around other people if you have a fever, are coughing, sneezing, have a runny nose, or are having difficulty breathing. Please also consider using one of our telehealth options to see a board-certified doctor or nurse practitioner from wherever you have internet access. You’ll receive specific care recommendations from the comfort of your home.

Human coronaviruses most commonly spread from an infected person to others through:

• Coughing and sneezing
• Close personal contact, such as touching or shaking hands
• Touching an object or surface with the virus on it, then touching your mouth, nose, or eyes before washing your hands
• Rarely, fecal contamination

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are common in many different species of animals, including camels, cattle, cats, and bats. Rarely, animal coronaviruses can infect people and then spread between people such as with MERS and SARS.

When person-to-person spread has occurred with MERS and SARS, it is thought to have happened mainly via respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, similar to how influenza and other respiratory pathogens spread. Spread of SARS and MERS between people has generally occurred between close contacts.

It’s important to note that how easily a virus spreads person-to-person can vary. Some viruses are highly contagious (like measles), while other viruses are less so. It’s important to know this in order to better understand the risk associated with this virus. While CDC considers this is a very serious public health threat, based on current information, the immediate health risk from Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) to the general American public is considered low at this time.

There is much more to learn about the transmissibility, severity, and other features associated with 2019-nCoV and investigations are ongoing. The latest situation summary updates are available on CDC’s web page 2019 Novel Coronavirus.

*Source- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Influenza (Flu) and COVID-19 are both contagious respiratory illnesses, but they are caused by different viruses. COVID-19 is caused by infection with a new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and flu is caused by infection with influenza viruses.

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