The coronavirus pandemic in the United States

CNN readers worldwide have asked more than 90,000 questions about the coronavirus.

Here are the answers to some of the most popular questions:

Q: What’s so different about coronavirus that we need to shut down businesses? Why practice social estrangement now when we didn’t do it during SARS and swine flu epidemics?

A: Unlike SARS and swine flu, the new coronavirus is both highly contagious and particularly lethal, said CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

“SARS was also a coronavirus, and at the time it was a new virus,” said Gupta. “In the end, we know that SARS ended up infecting 8000 people around the world and causing around 800 deaths. Very high mortality rate, but it has not been very contagious. “

Swine flu, or H1N1, “was highly contagious and infected about 60 million people in the United States alone within a year,” said Gupta. “But it was far less lethal than the flu too – as 1/3 lethal as the flu.”

What makes the coronavirus novel different is that “this is both very contagious … and appears to be much more deadly than the flu,” said Gupta. “So both of these things, in combination, I think, are why we take it so seriously.”

Q: Can coronavirus be transferred from people’s shoes? How can I protect children who crawl or play on the floor?

A: Yes, coronavirus can live on the sole of shoes, but the risk of getting Covid-19 from shoes seems to be low.

A report published by the CDC highlighted a study conducted in a hospital in Wuhan, China, where this coronavirus epidemic began.

The soles of the health workers’ shoes were buffered and analyzed and the study found that the virus was “widely distributed” on floors, computer mice, trash cans and door handles. But it is important to note that the study was conducted in a hospital where the virus was concentrated.

It is still possible to collect coronavirus on the bottom of shoes by running errands, but you are unlikely to get sick because people often don’t touch the soles of their shoes and then their faces. Why Covid-19 is a respiratory disease, the CDC recommends wearing a mask while it is in public and wash your hands often – in the right way.

If you have young children who regularly crawl or touch the floor, it’s a good idea to take your shoes off as soon as you get home to prevent coronaviruses or bacteria from spreading on the floors.

Q: Can you take coronavirus more than once? Or does a person become immune or have long-term immunity to the virus?

A: It is too early to know for sure. But other coronaviruses, such as those that cause the common cold, could give us clues.

With “common cold coronaviruses, you actually don’t have long lasting immunity, so we don’t know the answer with this specific coronavirus,” said Dr. Celine Gounder, professor of medicine and infectious diseases at New York University. School of Medicine.

“This will actually be one of the challenges with designing a vaccine is how to make immunity last long enough to protect you.”