CORONAVIRUS: WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COVID-19 AND THE COMMON COLD AND FLU?

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On 16 April Dominic Raab confirmed the UK lockdown would be continuing for another three weeks.

The order has been in place since 23 March when Boris Johnson first told the nation they should only leave the house for several key reasons.

These include travelling to work as a key worker, shopping for food or medicine and taking one form of exercise per day. Those with underlying health conditions and people over the age of 70 should still be

self-isolating at home, getting other people to do shopping and collect medication if necessary. Read more What are symptoms of coronavirus – and where has it spread? Latest travel updates as coronavirus continues to spread Can face masks really protect you against coronavirus or flu? The dirty truth about washing your hands According to experts at John Hopkins University in the US, roughly one billion people catch the winter flu every year.

It is estimated that between 290,000 and 650,000 of those who get the illness die. So what is Covid-19 and how does it differ from the regular winter flu and common cold? What is coronavirus? According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that can cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as  Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). ✕ A novel coronavirus (nCoV) like Covid-19 is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans. Covid-19 is thought to have originated in a food market in Wuhan

 China, the epicentre of the outbreak.

Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and humans. Because coronavirus is a new illness, the NHS says, we still don’t know exactly how it spreads. However, like other viruses

, it is likely that it Covid-19 is passed from person to person through droplets of moisture that leave the body when coughing and sneezing.

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Topic moved on curiosities, not a news.