All you need to know about Coronavirus: Symptoms, cause, and precautions

As the situation in China over the Coronavirus outbreak continues to worsen, the Indian government on Wednesday issued several important frequently asked questions (FAQs) highlighting the symptoms, precautions, cause of spread, etc. of the virus. The outbreak of this virus in China has triggered panic in India with several suspected cases being kept under observation. However, there has not been any positive case of the virus in India.

FAQs on Novel #coronavirus :

What is #nCoV2020? What are its symptoms? How does it spread? What precautions need to be taken?
Read about this and more:@PMOIndia @drharshvardhan @AshwiniKChoubey @PIB_India @DDNewslive @airnewsalerts @NITIAayog @ANI pic.twitter.com/BvTEgPQdAO

— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) January 29, 2020

The Union Ministry of Health took to the micro-blogging site, Twitter, and posted the various queries that have been concerning the people regarding this virus. They are:

1) What is 2019 Novel Coronavirus?

2019 Novel Coronavirus, or 2019-nCoV, is a new virus first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. It is named novel as it has not been previously identified. 

2) What is the source of 2019 Novel Coronavirus? 

At present exact source of infection of 2019 novel Coronavirus has not been identified. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, some causing illness in people and others that circulate among animals. Initially, many of the patients in the outbreak in Wuhan, China reportedly had some link to large seafood and animal market, suggesting the virus likely emerged from an animal source. 

3) What are the initial symptoms of Novel Coronavirus?

Current symptoms reported for patients with 2019-nCoV include acute onset of fever, cough, and difficulty in breathing. 

4) Has anyone in India got the infection?

No. Thus far, there is no report of any laboratory-confirmed case 2019-nCoV. Suspected cases are being identified through disease surveillance in India. 

Here is all that you may want to know about #coronavirus. Do spread the awareness. pic.twitter.com/stpW8ZrHAM — Harsh Goenka (@hvgoenka) January 28, 2020

The Health Ministry has set up a 24x7 helpline, +91-11-23978046--for any technical query on the virus.

The death toll from a new coronavirus in China rose sharply to 132 on Wednesday with nearly 1,500 new cases, heaping pressure on Beijing to control the disease. New cases have been reported in many other countries-- Thailand (14), Japan (6), South Korea (4), US (5), Vietnam (2), Singapore (7), Malaysia (4), France (4), Australia (5), Germany (4), Nepal (1), Canada (1), Cambodia (1), Sri Lanka (1) and UAE (1).

China`s National Health Commission on Wednesday said the total number of deaths from the flu-like virus rose by 26 on Tuesday to 132, almost all in Hubei province which is under virtual lockdown, while the number of confirmed cases rose by 1,459 to a total of 5,974. Several countries are trying to evacuate their citizens from Wuhan, the city in Hubei at the centre of the epidemic.