About COVID-19

Frequently Asked Questions about COVID-19

What are the symptoms of Coronavirus COVID-19?

Symptoms can range from mild to severe illness. Some people will recover easily, and others may get very sick very quickly. People with coronavirus may experience:

  • fever
  • flu-like symptoms such as coughing, sore throat and fatigue
  • shortness of breath

Visit the HSE website which covers symptoms, causes and treatment

How can I reduce transmission – protect myself and others?

Practising good hand and sneeze/cough hygiene is the best defence against most viruses. You should:

Front line tips for patients and practitioners:

  • Wash your hands often, before and after providing treatment. Encourage patients to wash their hands often while in the clinic.
  • Place additional signage in and around the clinic to encourage regular handwashing.
  • Maintain social distancing; two-meter distance between you and anyone who is coughing or sneezing.
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose, mouth, and face.
  • Cough into your elbow.
  • Ensure that alcohol-based hand sanitizers and/or a handwashing station are available.
  • Ensure that staff wash down equipment frequently – e.g. following patient use.
  • Contact your patients and ask them not to come into the clinic if they experience symptoms.
  • Hold regular team meetings with staff to review this information and provide any updates.

What is the incubation period of COVID-19 virus?

The incubation period is the duration between exposure to the virus and the onset of symptoms. The World Health Organization (WHO) currently estimates that the incubation period ranges from 1 to 14 days, with a median incubation period of 5 to 6 days. These estimates will be refined as more data becomes available.  There are reports that suggest there have been cases with longer incubation periods, such as 24 days. The incubation period of infections often has a skewed distribution, where most patients have an incubation period that clusters around the average, but a few patients have a longer incubation period. Medical experts believe reports of cases with longer incubation periods are statistical outliers – while longer incubation periods are possible, they may have been reported in error, or had exposure to an unidentified case at a later date that has not been identified in a transmission chain. 

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