Keeping up with the science of coronavirus: here's a cheat-sheet

The novel coronavirus (and the disease it causes, Covid-19) has scientists across the globe working around the clock. It’s a new enemy and much of its weaponry and tactical approach is still being figured out. Fake news can bloom in the spaces where no answer is available. Here is a cheat-sheet to help us understand some of the science that’s going on.

QUICKER TEST ON THE CARDS, BUT NOT YET

At the moment, patients must wait at least a day (but anything up to four days) to find out if they’re positive. With some scientific luck, that could change. A British corporation and a Senegalese research foundation are working on a hand-held test that could take 10 minutes and cost about $1 (about R16,60). But don’t hold out for it: if all goes well, it will take at least three months.

VACCINES POSSIBLE, BUT WE MUST WAIT

It’s a global race for the first vaccine and more than a dozen institutions are hard at work to be the “winner”. But, getting it right is paramount and all the normal ethics of clinical trials need to be observed. Public health officials say this is a marathon, not a sprint, and that it will be at least 18 months before they’re even close to a viable option. So keep washing those hands, people. 

THE SEASONS MAY NOT PLAY A ROLE AFTER ALL

Some scientists have hypothesised that winter works in the virus’s favour and summer in humans' favour. But apart from human behaviour, such as people huddling together when it gets cold, there is no proof that the season affects the virus. Scientists are considering factors such as humidity, long days vs short days and other seasonal components. So far, however, there is no proof that the season and virus have a relationship.

THERE ARE TWO STRAINS OF THE VIRUS

Two strains of the new coronavirus are spreading around the world, the L-type and S-type. The S-type is thought to be slightly older, with the L-type having derived from it. The S-type is thought to be less aggressive. Some scientists hypothesise that the slight variations in the types explain the difference in symptoms and fatality rates in various locations. Again, nobody knows for sure. 

SILENCE WILL KILL: IT’S A STATISTICAL REALITY

It may seem such is the stuff of poetry, but it’s a scientific fact: every person, school or institution to keep quiet about a positive test becomes responsible for an exponential spread of the disease. With a 14-day incubation period, those who have come into contact with a positive person, but don’t know it, will keep spreading the disease unknowingly. Those they infect will do so, too. That makes it a scientific fact that silence will kill.

MEN MORE LIKELY TO DIE FROM IT, BUT IT’S NOT CLEAR WHY

While older people being more susceptible to dying from the virus is well established, data on the gender divide has emerged. The infection is fatal for 2.8% of men, but only 1.7% of women, albeit that the gender ratio for those testing positive is about 50-50. Scientists don’t know why, but it might be related to lifestyle factors (such as more men than women in China, where the first stats appeared, being smokers).