Question: Why are we all so worried about COVID-19?

Answer: First off, you’re probably <60 years of age and you’re probably in pretty good health. You’re probably thinking that you personally, do not need to worry about yourself — yeah, you’ll probably get COVID-19 within the next year or so and yeah, being sick sucks. But being sick isn’t the end of the world! So, why the freak out? Is it warranted?

· Yes, the widespread action — of the right kind — is warranted. (examples of the right kind of action are here)

· First, we need to protect the elderly, especially those with underlying conditions like heart or lung disease. Data from China reveal that folks age 80+ who get COVID-19 are at very high risk of adverse outcomes, including death — 15 of every 100 individuals age 80+ who contract COVID-19 die. In a situation like this, where we have no vaccination and no treatment, it is imperative that we try to minimize the elderly’s exposure to COVID-19. This means that we also need to try and avoid getting sick. And if we are getting sick, we need to stay home and avoid interactions with others as much as possible.

· Second, we need to protect our health system. Data from China also show that about 20% of all COVID-19 cases are serious and require medical treatment, including hospitalization. Our health system will be overrun if we all become sick at the same(ish) time. This will lead to terrible health outcomes not just for those infected with COVID-19, but for those who need to access the health system for everything else! Death rates sky rocket when health systems aren’t functioning. This is why social distancing measures are so imperative. We need to “blunt the curve” (see graphic below) so that even if all of us do end up becoming sick from COVID-19, we’re doing it at staggered times and not overwhelming the health system.

· We need to be concerned and we need to be taking proactive action to help our most vulnerable and to help our health system respond.

· Finally, unlike flu, we have no treatments and no vaccine for COVID-19 an no herd immunity.

Question: What’s the difference in terminology between SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19?

Answer: SARS-CoV-2 is the virus and COVID-19 is the disease. Think of it like HIV/AIDS. HIV is the virus, AIDS is the disease.

Question: What’s the story with virus mutations?

Answer: [providing a synthesis of a good article from Science] Like all viruses, SARS-CoV-2 evolves over time through random mutations, only some of which are caught and corrected by the virus’s error correction machinery. SARS-CoV-2 accumulates an average of about one to two mutations per month, which is a slower rate than the flu. Scientists have been sharing SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences on the online platform GISAID and studying these sequences to a) answer the basic question as to which pathology is causing the disease (e.g. identify a novel coronavirus); and b) analyze how the virus is changing over time and place. The first piece is obviously critical. This second piece is also very important, but it can lead to over-interpretation of results. On the positive side, genome sequencing led scientists to correctly conclude that the new coronavirus had been circulating in Washington State for quite some time before being detected. On the flip side, it has led to over-interpretation — like a scientist concluding that the outbreak in Italy came from cases in Munich using a small dataset that was insufficient to make such a claim.