What is coronavirus?

According to the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

Coronavirus disease, also called COVID-19, 2019-nCov or 2019 Novel Coronavirus,

is “a respiratory illness that can spread from person to person. The virus that causes COVID-19 is a novel coronavirus that was first identified during an investigation into an outbreak in Wuhan, China.”

How is coronavirus spread?

Coronavirus is spread from person to person. People with the illness spread the disease through tiny droplets of water when they cough or exhale. Those droplets land on objects and surfaces around them. The disease spreads when another person inhales those droplets from a person with the disease who coughs or exhales, or when someone without the illness touches objects or surfaces with the droplets, then touches their face -- particularly their eyes, nose or mouth, with unwashed hands.

Research on the ways the illness is spread is ongoing, according to WHO.

»COMPLETE COVERAGE: CORONAVIRUS

What are the symptoms of coronavirus?

According to the World Health Organization, symptoms typically include fever, tiredness and dry cough.

Some may have aches and pains, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat or diarrhea, but those symptoms usually start gradually and are mild.