How Avoid Infecting Your Elderly Relatives and Neighbors?

Age is one of the main factors affecting mortality from coronavirus disease. A study conducted in China, where the first people infected with Covid-19 appeared, shows: the older a person is, the more dangerous the consequences of the coronavirus are for him.

According to the World Health Organization, the death rate for coronavirus is about 3.5%. But this figure should not be taken as the likelihood of dying from Covid-19. Experts in China have come to the conclusion that among people older than 80 years the mortality rate was about 14.8%, while in people between 10 and 39 years – 0.4%.

In addition, experts suggest that, since many suffer a new disease in a mild form, they do not go to doctors and remain unaccounted for. Many people are nowadays using Body temperature solution in their buildings to check if a person is infected around them.

Therefore, the ratio between the infected and the dead may be several times less. Experts from the British government, for example, suggest that in fact, the average death rate from the new coronavirus will be about 1%.

But for older people, the risk is still quite high. So what steps should older people and their relatives take?

Masks and self-medication? Not!

“Firstly, do not panic, be calm about the situation. What is advised to do? We, for example, take measures such as taking antiviral drugs. We take them every year. Then, if something really happens, masks will be needed. But so far life has absolutely not changed at all, “an elderly Muscovite Ekaterina told the BBC Russian Service.

She stands in the middle of the playground and watches a small child who plays with other kids and tries to climb the slide, then runs up and pulls her hand.

Experts have very serious doubts about the effectiveness of both measures, about which Ekaterina speaks.

However, the effectiveness and safety of this drug has not been proven by studies conducted according to international standards.

Experts are also skeptical about the ability of masks to protect against viruses spread by airborne droplets.

Insulation? Yes! But…

The BBC asked Dr. Elisabetta Groppelli, a virologist and professor at St. George’s University of London, how to protect the most vulnerable older people.

“There is a fairly simple rule: if you are over 65 – stay at home – said Groppelli. – The main ways of protection: limit close contact with other people and keep distance when communicating.”

Coronavirus is transmitted in two ways: from person to person or through contact with surfaces. Usually, Groppelli says, people don’t think about how often they touch various surfaces in public places.