In relation to the break-out of the Wuhan Novel Coronavirus (WN-CoV) in China we are advising patients NOT to come down to surgery if you have any other symptoms below. We advice you to contact NHS 111 ONLINE immediately who will advice further. The main symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are:
- a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
- a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
- a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you’ve noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal
WN-CoV infection is classified as an airborne high consequence infectious disease (HCID) in the UK. It may cause mild to moderate illness, in addition to pneumonia or severe acute respiratory infection.
COVID 19 is a new virus from the coronavirus family, that includes SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome). Coronavirus are zoonotic (transmitted between animals and people) RNA virus and this one is thought to have started in a fish/animal market in China.
The main method of transmission is respiratory droplets, or in a healthcare setting, contact with bodily fluids. Treatment is supportive
For more information on the virus we have attached some useful links below:
| NHS COVID-19 Page | COVID-19 advice and services – NHS (www.nhs.uk) |
| Parenting Through COVID-19 | ihv.org.uk/families/parenting-through-coronavirus-covid-19/ |
| PHE COVID-19 Dashboard | UKHSA data dashboard |
