What is Covid-19 and what can I do?
Covid-19 is a disease caused by a new virus that causes respiratory illness in people.
What is Covid-19?
Covid-19 is a disease caused by a new virus that cause respiratory illness in people. It is spread from person to another.
How does it spread?
• Coughing and sneezing.
• Rarely, fecal contamination.
• Human contact.
• Contaminated contact.
What are the symptoms of coronavirus?
Initial symptoms include a high fever, coughing, a runny nose, short breath, sneezing, tiredness and a general feeling of being unwell.
How do I protect myself?
• Stay home when you are sick.
• Wash your hands frequently with warm water and soap, towel drying them properly, or clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub.
• People with symptoms of acute respiratory infection should practice cough etiquette, for example, cover your mouth and nose when you cough and sneeze with a tissue.
• Use a mask.
• Avoid eating raw or under-cooked animal products, and exercise care when handling raw meat, milk or animal organs, to prevent potential cross-contamination with uncooked foods.
• Avoid close contact with farm or wild animals.
Did you know?
People who are infected can show no symptoms but are still infectious.
Take care:
For those with a weakened immune system, older people and people with pre-existing medical conditions (such as diabetes and heart disease) are more at risk of developing a severe disease, for example pneumonia or bronchitis.
Where can you get up-to-date, credible information on Covid-19?
• Phone the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) toll free public hotline on 0800 029 999, Mondays to Fridays, from 8am, or visit their website, www.nicd.ac.za/diseases-a-z-index/covid-19/ for the latest information.
• Visit the World Health Organisation website, www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports, for the latest information.
• Notice: Coronavirus reporting at Caxton Local Media aims to combat fake news
Dear reader,
As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, misinformation and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) are circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds, and to separate truth from untruth, in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19.
Readers with any comments or queries may contact national group editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or legal adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za).
