CHAPTER 5

• Jurisdiction: United States

CHAPTER 5 WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COVID-19 DISEASE?

The viral illness known as SARS-CoV-2 and classified by the World Health Organization as "COVID-19" is a powerful viral infection that has the potential for seriously impacting lungs and internal organs of those who are not immune to the virus. Fatal cases demonstrate on scans or at autopsy that the lungs are filled with fluid, making it impossible for the lungs to perform their oxygen exchange function. Modern ventilator machines can assist breathing if the patient is able to get intensive hospital care, but the effects of the SARS-CoV-2 once inside the body are very hazardous to lungs, to heart function, and ultimately to the brain.

Symptoms of COVID-19 are short term and long term. The Centers for Disease Control has a useful synopsis on its website, cdc.gov/coronavirus. A 2020 Chinese CDC study found short-term harmful effects:¹

• MILD: 81 percent, cases of non-pneumonia and mild pneumonia effects
• SEVERE: 14 percent, dyspnea, respiratory frequency '30/min, blood oxygen saturation < 93 percent, partial pressure of arterial oxygen to fraction of inspired oxygen ratio < 300, and/or lung infiltrates '50 percent within twenty-four to forty-eight hours
• CRITICAL: 5 percent, respiratory failure, septic shock and/or multiple organ dysfunction or failure

Long-term effects were studied in a British research study,² which found that COVID patients who were previously in a hospital intensive care unit (ICU), reported fatigue (72 percent), breathlessness (65.6 percent), and psychological distress (46.9 percent) four to six weeks after discharge. Those patients that were previously in a hospital ward but did not require ICU care reported fatigue (60.3 percent), breathlessness (42.6 percent), and psychological distress (23.5 percent) four to eight weeks after discharge. Risks were greater for individuals with preexisting medical conditions, as well as individuals older than sixty-five years.

Mechanisms of transmission of the COVID-19 disease must be understood. There are three ways of contracting COVID-19 infection:³

• One way of contracting COVID-19 is by touching a surface such as a rail or doorknob that contains the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The virus can transfer onto your hand, and then you can infect yourself by touching your mouth, nostrils, or eyes.
• Another way of contracting COVID-19 is by droplets. Droplets are particles of saliva or respiratory fluid that are expelled from infected individuals

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