Coronavirus: 10 most Googled questions about coronavirus in 2020

We tell you the top 10 questions people asked on the internet, as per the internet giant’s annual search report:

COVID-19 or novel coronavirus belongs to a family of coronaviruses which primarily spread from animals to humans.

While investigation is still ongoing, the first case of novel coronavirus is suspected to have emerged from a wet market in Wuhan, China in the early weeks of December 2019, before it started to spread across the world, causing 78 million casualties and over 1.7 million deaths (as of December 23, 2020). US, India, Russia still remain hotspots for the infection, and newer, more infectious mutations have been observed in the UK as well.

COVID-19 has an incubation time of 2-5 days upon infection. While some people can take long while to recover, it is estimated that the median time for COVID-19 to last in the body is 2 weeks, when most people get on the road to recovery and see symptoms disappear.

Severe cases of COVID-19 can also span for longer. COVID long haulers, or those who suffer from recurring symptoms after recovery can experience trouble weeks on after battling the virus.

Ever since first discovered, the symptoms for novel coronavirus have progressed from just being a respiratory virus to an infection which could rapidly attack and cause damage to vital organs of the body. Many infections are also asymptomatic in nature (40%), meaning that they may not show typical symptoms of the disease, and yet spread the disease to others.

Since your symptoms can tell a lot about the type of COVID-19 infection you have, some of the most commonly reported symptoms by patients worldwide include dry cough, fever, headache, back pain, loss of smell and taste, muscle pain, weakness, shortness of breath.

Now, medical authorities have also added newer symptoms such as brain fog, confusion, myalgia, fatigue, dizziness as signs of COVID-19 to watch out for. How your symptoms are, or progress first week onwards may also predict the severity of your infection

While COVID-19 typically transmits like a respiratory virus, which spreads through direct transfer of droplets (hence, mask-wearing is neccessary), COVID-19 can also find a way to infect your body by collecting on surfaces, where it can linger for longer.

Studies over the recent months have suggested that some surfaces are more likely to spread COVID-19 than others. Paper, glass, damp areas can hide the SARS-COV-2 virus for upto 28 days time and cause infection. The surfaces touched by an infected person can also act as a possible mode for disease transmission.

Therefore, regular cleaning, disinfection, washing your hands and practising preventive measures are key to keeping the virus at bay.

COVID-19 usually spreads through close contact (less than six feet apart), when an infected person transmits viral load onto others by coughing, sneezing or spreading virus onto commonly touched surfaces.

Even asymptomatic carriers of the virus can spread the viral load by indirect means, talking, singing or being in close contact to people. A person can get infected if the virus gets inhaled, or lands in their mouth, nose, eyes or ears.

In their 14-20 day long recovery period, most people are assumed to be no longer contagious after 10 days time. If a COVID+ person does not experience fever, cough or observes a gradual decline in the symptoms, he or she is certified to be healthy. Two negative COVID tests, taken 24 hours apart can confirm the same.

The most common symptoms of COVID-19 remain cough, fever, shortness of breath. However, some people, especially the ones who suffer from moderate or severe forms of the disease may suffer from gastrointestinal symptoms- including diarrhoea, abdominal pain, nausea, cramps, loss of appetite. For some, it may also be the only symptoms of COVID-19.

While there is no clear evidence as to how COVID-19 impacts your gastrointestinal system, theories suggest that the infection can get worse when the virus starts to attack gut functioning, which is positioned close to the immune system.

There have also been reports which suggest that the virus could spread through faecal matters, but there is still not enough evidence to suggest the same.

After weeks of to and fro and a topic which puzzled everyone, it was officially confirmed in the month of October that COVID-19 was in fact, airborne, which means that practising mask hygiene, washing hands and maintaining distance is all the more important.

The airborne transmission also means that COVID-19 can deposit on surfaces, be more infectious when suspended in the air for longer times. Transmission can also occur through aerosols, in indoor settings and poorly ventilated areas.

Experiencing a cold or sneezing is generally not considered a typical COVID-19 sign, unlike the presence of a dry cough. However,

sneezing, accompanied by a runny or congested nose could be a probable symptom of COVID-19, reported in over 4.8% cases worldwide.

While the prevalence is lower than that of other symptoms, nasal congestion, runny nose, watery eyes which strike unusually can be a cause of concern, especially if you have been in contact with someone with COVID-19.

Lastly, one of the most searched question on the internet remains the one query which is on everybody’s mind- does a COVID-19 cure exist?

Till now, there is no proper cure which has been identified for COVID-19. Since COVID-19 is also a novel virus, scientists and doctors are trying their hand at a number of experimental strategies, treatment plans to contain or control the spread of the virus, and stop it from multiplicating. Anti-viral, flu remedies are also being used to control some symptoms.

COVID-19 vaccines, which have been worked on since the early months of 2020 and developed at an unprecedented rate are now available for select groups across the world. Else, masks remain to be the best form of preventable protection against coronavirus right now.