What is COVID-19?

Let's know this enemy.

The new COVID-19, also known as the new coronavirus, is a disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) refers to the virus, while coronavirus-19 disease (COVID-19) refers to the disease.

Know the methods used to detect active and past SARS-CoV-2 infections

How COVID-19 Spreads

COVID-19 is thought to spread mainly through close contact from person to person, including between people who are physically near each other (within about 6 feet). People who are infected but do not show symptoms can also spread the virus to others. Cases of reinfection with COVID-19 have been reported but are rare. We are still learning about how the virus spreads and the severity of illness it causes.

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COVID-19 most commonly spreads during close contact

  • People who are physically near (within 6 feet) a person with COVID-19 or have direct contact with that person are at greatest risk of infection.
  • When people with COVID-19 cough, sneeze, sing, talk, or breathe they produce respiratory droplets. These droplets can range in size from 0.5 to larger droplets–20.0 μm (some of which are visible) to smaller droplets. Small droplets can also form particles when they dry very quickly in the airstream.
  • Infections occur mainly through exposure to respiratory droplets when a person is in close contact with someone who has COVID-19.
  • Respiratory droplets cause infection when they are inhaled or deposited on mucous membranes, such as those that line the inside of the nose and mouth.
  • As the respiratory droplets travel further from the person with COVID-19, the concentration of these droplets decreases. Larger droplets fall out of the air due to gravity. Smaller droplets and particles spread apart in the air.
  • With passing time, the amount of infectious virus in respiratory droplets also decreases.

COVID-19 can sometimes be spread by airborne transmission

  • Some infections can be spread by exposure to viruses in small droplets and particles that can linger in the air for minutes to hours. These viruses may be able to infect people who are further than 6 feet away from the infected person or after that person has left the space.
  • This kind of spread is referred to as airborne transmission and is one of the most prevalent ways that infections like tuberculosis, measles, and chickenpox are spread.
  • There is early evidence that people with COVID-19 have infected others who were more than 6 feet away under certain conditions. These transmissions can occur within enclosed spaces that have inadequate ventilation. Sometimes the infected person was breathing heavily, for example while singing or exercising.
  • Available data indicate that it is much more common for the virus that causes COVID-19 to spread through close contact with a person who has COVID-19 than through airborne transmission.


COVID-19 spreads less commonly through contact with contaminated surfaces

  • Respiratory droplets can also land on surfaces and objects. It is possible that a person could get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or eyes.
  • Spread from touching surfaces is not thought to be a common way that COVID-19 spreads.


49%

of Latinos have private health insurance compared to 75.4% of non-Latino whites

10M+

of Latinos do not have any type of health insurance

35%

of workers in the meat processing sector are Latino, the largest group of minority employees

61%

of Latinos reported that they or someone in their household has lost their job or suffered a reduction in income compared to 38% of white adults

$800B

are generated by Latino entrepreneurs and small businesses

544K+

workers in the food industry are Latino

3.22

average people per household in Latino families compared to 2.52 people per family of all races

$1.7T

in purchasing power of Latinos

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