Understanding the Coronavirus (Covid-19)#

Hey there. Let’s talk about this virus that’s been going around, the one everyone calls coronavirus. Officially, it’s known as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Related Coronavirus 2, and the sickness it causes is called Covid-19.

Back in December 2019, the folks in China let the world know this virus was spreading through their communities. In the months that followed, it popped up in other countries too, with cases sometimes doubling really fast, like within just a few days.

So, what exactly happens when this thing gets inside a human? And what should we all be doing about it?

What is a Virus?#

Think of a virus as something pretty basic, almost not even alive. It’s mostly just a shell wrapped around some genetic material and a few proteins. It can’t really do anything by itself; it needs to get into a living cell to make more copies of itself.

How it Spreads#

The virus might spread if it lands on surfaces, but we’re not totally sure yet how long it can survive out there.

Its main way of getting around seems to be through droplet infection. This happens when people who are sick cough. It can also spread if you touch someone who’s ill and then touch your own face, maybe rubbing your eyes or nose.

The virus starts its journey in your nose or mouth and then hitches a ride, like a tiny stowaway, deeper inside your body.

Where it Goes and What it Does Inside You#

The virus is looking for a few main places to go:

• The intestines
• The spleen
• The lungs (This is where it usually causes the most trouble)

Even just a small number of these viruses can kick off a pretty dramatic situation.

Your lungs have billions of little cells lining them called epithelial cells. These are kind of like the border guards of your organs, just waiting there, ready to get infected.

Here’s how the virus attacks:

1. It connects to a specific spot (they call it a receptor) on the surface of these cells.
2. It then injects its genetic material inside.
3. The cell doesn’t know any better. It starts following the virus’s simple instructions: copy and reassemble.
4. The cell gets filled up with more and more copies of the virus.
5. Eventually, it hits a breaking point and gets one final order: self-destruct.
6. The cell basically melts away, releasing all the new virus particles it made. These new particles are now ready to go attack other cells.

The number of infected cells starts growing super fast, like, exponentially. After about 10 days, you could have millions of body cells infected and billions of viruses swarming around, especially in the lungs.

The Body’s Reaction: The Immune System Goes Wild#

Now, at this point, the virus itself hasn’t caused the worst damage yet. That comes next, and it’s actually thanks to a “beast” that the virus sort of unleashes on you: your own immune system.

Your immune system is supposed to protect you, right? But it can sometimes be pretty dangerous to your own body if it’s not controlled carefully. When immune cells rush into the lungs to fight the virus, Corona can infect some of them, causing a lot of confusion.

Cells talk to each other mostly using tiny protein signals called cytokines. Almost every important immune reaction is controlled by these. Corona makes the infected immune cells freak out and “yell bloody murder,” basically overreacting big time.

It’s like the virus puts your immune system into a fighting frenzy, sending way more soldiers than it should. This wastes the body’s resources and causes damage.

Two types of immune cells, in particular, can cause major problems when they go into this frenzy:

• Neutrophils: These are really good at killing stuff. But when thousands of them show up and get confused, they start pumping out substances (enzymes) that destroy both the bad guys and your own healthy cells (“friends” and “enemies”).
• Killer T-cells: Normally, these guys tell infected cells to neatly commit suicide (a controlled process). But when they get confused, they start telling perfectly healthy cells to kill themselves too.

As more and more immune cells keep arriving, they cause more and more damage, killing off healthy lung tissue. If this gets bad enough, it can lead to permanent, irreversible damage that might cause lifelong disabilities.

Recovery and Severe Illness#

In most cases, the immune system eventually gets things under control. It kills the infected cells, stops new viruses from infecting others, and cleans up the mess. That’s when recovery starts.

The good news is, the majority of people who get Corona will only have relatively mild symptoms.

But a lot of cases become severe or even critical. We don’t have an exact percentage because not every case is found, but it’s definitely a lot more than with the regular flu.

In severe cases:

• Millions of epithelial cells in the lungs have died.
• The protective lining of the lungs is gone.
• This leaves the tiny air sacs (called alveoli) where you breathe open to infection by bacteria. Normally, these bacteria aren’t a big deal, but now they can cause serious problems.
• Patients often get pneumonia.
• Breathing becomes difficult or can even fail completely.
• Patients may need ventilators to help them breathe and survive.

At this point, the immune system has been fighting hard for weeks and has made tons of antiviral weapons. But with thousands of bacteria multiplying rapidly, it can get overwhelmed. If the bacteria get into the blood and spread through the body, sadly, death is very likely.

Corona vs. The Flu#

People often compare the coronavirus to the flu. But honestly, it’s much more dangerous.

While figuring out the exact death rate during an ongoing pandemic is tricky, we know for sure it’s much more contagious and spreads faster than the flu.

Fast Pandemic vs. Slow Pandemic#

For something like Corona, there are really two possible futures for how the pandemic plays out: a fast one or a slow one.

Which path we end up on depends entirely on how all of us react, especially right at the beginning of the outbreak.

• A fast pandemic would be terrible and cost a lot of lives.
• A slow pandemic probably wouldn’t be remembered much in history books.

What YOU Can Do#

Though it sounds super simple, maybe the very best thing you can do is wash your hands.

Soap is actually a really powerful tool against this virus. The coronavirus is wrapped in a layer that’s basically fat. Soap breaks down this fat layer, making the virus unable to infect you. Soap also makes your hands slippery, and the simple action of washing helps to physically remove viruses.

To wash your hands properly, imagine you’ve just chopped up some really hot jalapeños and are about to put in your contact lenses – wash them like you really mean it!

The next thing is social distancing. It might not be fun, but it’s a really good thing to do for everyone. This means:

• No hugging.
• No handshakes.
• If you can stay at home, stay at home. This helps protect all the people who have to be out there for society to keep working – folks like doctors, cashiers, police officers, and many others. You rely on them, and they rely on you not getting sick.

On a bigger scale, you might hear about quarantines. These can mean different things, from limiting travel to actual orders for people to stay inside their homes. Quarantines aren’t fun to go through and definitely aren’t popular. But they are crucial because they buy us time. This time is especially important for researchers working hard to find medications and vaccinations.

So, if you find yourself under quarantine, it’s important to understand why it’s happening and to respect it.

None of this is fun, that’s for sure. But when you look at the big picture, doing these things is a really small price to pay.

How Pandemics End#

How a pandemic ends really depends on how it starts.

• If it starts fast with a steep rise in cases, it usually ends badly.
• If it starts slow, with a much gentler rise, it tends to end okay-ish.

And right now, how this one goes really is in all of our hands. Like, literally and also in the bigger picture sense.

Thanks to the Experts#

A big thank you to the experts who helped out quickly for the video this information came from, especially Our World In Data. They’re an online source for research and data on the world’s biggest problems and how we’re trying to solve them. You should check out their website; they have a page on the Corona pandemic that’s always being updated.