The best way to prevent infection is to follow the preventive guidelines and precautions, which currently include staying at home and maintaining a social distance of at least one to two meters between you and people who are not members of your household.

Additional recommended preventive actions against this respiratory virus include the following:

• Wash your hands regularly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, or use an alcohol-based hand rub.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth before washing your hands.
• Avoid contact with sick people who show respiratory symptoms.
• Make sure that you, and the people around you, follow good respiratory hygiene. This means covering your mouth and nose with a tissue or your bent elbow when you cough or sneeze. Dispose of the used tissue immediately.

Infected people should isolate themselves for 10 days, and the virus is not contagious after the isolation period

People can catch COVID-19 from others who have the virus.

The disease can spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth which are dispersed when a person with COVID-19 coughs, sneezes or exhales.

These droplets land on objects and surfaces around the person.

Other people then catch COVID-19 by touching these objects or surfaces, and then touching their eyes, nose or mouth. People can also catch COVID-19 if they breathe in droplets from a person with COVID-19 who coughs or exhales.

The term “incubation period” means the time between catching the virus and the time when symptoms first show. Most estimates of the incubation period for COVID-19 range from 2-14 days.

Visit the nearest health centre to take the necessary medical advice and check through clinical and laboratory examination and comply with the guidance of the attending physician. You are strongly urged to call one of the 24-hour help line numbers first, for instruction. You can also make use the Virtual Doctor, available online in MOHAP website, who can assess and advise you further.