Here Is How COVID-19 Kills You

Here is an informative report from NPR:

The first symptoms of COVID-19 are pretty common with respiratory illnesses - fever, a dry cough and shortness of breath, says Dr. Carlos del Rio, a professor of medicine and global health at Emory University who has consulted with colleagues treating coronavirus patients in China and Germany. "Some people also get a headache, sore throat," he says. Fatigue has also been reported - and less commonly, diarrhea. It may feel as if you have a cold. Or you may feel that flu-like feeling of being hit by a train.

Doctors say these patients with milder symptoms should check in with their physician to make sure their symptoms don't progress to something more serious, but they don't require major medical intervention.

But the new coronavirus attacks the lungs, and in about 20% of patients, infections can get more serious. As the virus enters lung cells, it starts to replicate, destroying the cells, explains Dr. Yoko Furuya, an infectious disease specialist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

"Because our body senses all of those viruses as basically foreign invaders, that triggers our immune system to sweep in and try to contain and control the virus and stop it from making more and more copies of itself," she says.

But Furuya says that this immune system response to this invader can also destroy lung tissue and cause inflammation. The end result can be pneumonia. That means the air sacs in the lungs become inflamed and filled with fluid, making it harder to breathe.

Del Rio says that these symptoms can also make it harder for the lungs to get oxygen to your blood, potentially triggering a cascade of problems. "The lack of oxygen leads to more inflammation, more problems in the body. Organs need oxygen to function, right? So when you don't have oxygen there, then your liver dies and your kidney dies," he says.

You can find the rest @
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/02/14/805289669/how-covid-19-kills-the-new-coronavirus-disease-can-take-a-deadly-turn

When the virus becomes widespread in the US (and experts are saying it will), it may be hard to find protective masks. In that event, here is a description of how you can make some of your own. I can't tell you how effective such makeshift masks will be, so follow this advice at your own risk. Good luck!

Scientists in Hong Kong have invented a cheap and easy way to make home-made masks as the city, gripped by fear over the deadly coronavirus, suffers from long queues and price-gouging over its dwindling supplies of protective gear.

The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital worked with the Science Park to devise the do-it-yourself method as thousands of people have waited overnight outside pharmacies promising new stock and costs spiking to as much as HK$400 or more for a box of 50 surgical masks. Often missing from the queues are many elderly - too weak or poor to join - some of whom have resorted to steaming the few masks they have left or and reusing one for days.

You can find the instructions here:

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3050689/how-make-your-own-mask-hong-kong-scientists

I suggest you print this out and save it in case the link disappears.