How to protect yourself and others
Everyone must practise good hygiene to protect against infection and prevent the virus spreading.
If you have a confirmed case, you need to isolate yourself to prevent it spreading to other people.
Read protect yourself and others for advice on good hygiene, self-isolation, and social distancing.
To help protect people most at risk, follow our advice on public gatherings and visits to vulnerable groups.
Symptoms and when to get tested
Symptoms
Symptoms include fever, coughing, sore throat, fatigue, and shortness of breath.
If you have serious symptoms such as difficulty breathing, call 000 for urgent medical help.
When to get tested
If you develop symptoms within 14 days of last contact with a confirmed case or of returning to Australia, you should seek medical attention. Your doctor will tell you if you need to get tested.
How it spreads
The virus can spread from person to person through:
close contact with an infectious person (including in the 24 hours before they started showing symptoms)
contact with droplets from an infected person’s cough or sneeze
touching objects or surfaces (like doorknobs or tables) that have cough or sneeze droplets from an infected person, and then touching your mouth or face
COVID-19 is a new disease, so there is no existing immunity in our community. This means that COVID-19 could spread widely and quickly.
To help reduce the spread and protect those who are most at risk, it is important that you take the recommended steps to protect yourself and others.
There is a global shortage of the test kits that pathologists use to diagnose COVID-19. This is why we are doing targeted testing instead of widespread testing.
Treatment
There is no treatment for COVID-19, but medical care can treat most of the symptoms.
Antibiotics do not work on viruses
Good hygiene
Everyone must practise good hygiene to protect against infection and prevent the virus spreading.
Good hygiene includes:
covering your coughs and sneezes with your elbow or a tissue
disposing of tissues properly
washing your hands often with soap and water, including before and after eating and after going to the toilet
using alcohol-based hand sanitisers
cleaning and disinfecting surfaces
if you are sick, avoiding contact with others and staying more than 1.5 metres away from people
Read more about protective measures against coronavirus on the World Health Organization website.
If you have a confirmed case, you need to self-quarantine to prevent it spreading to other people.
Social distancing
One way to slow the spread of viruses is social distancing.
For example:
staying at home when you are unwell
avoiding large public gatherings if they’re not essential
keeping a distance of 1.5 metres between you and other people whenever possible
minimising physical contact, especially with people at higher risk such as older people and people with existing health conditions
Vaccination
You should get your flu shot when it’s available. Getting the flu and COVID-19 at the same time can make you very ill.
Scientists from around the world are working on developing a vaccine. The World Health Organisation believes this may be available within 18 months.
1) pandemic
adjective MEDICAL specialized
UK
/pænˈdem.ɪk/ US
/pænˈdem.ɪk/
(of a disease) existing in almost all of an area or in almost all of a group of people, animals, or plants:
In some parts of the world malaria is still pandemic.
pandemic
noun [ C ]
US
/pænˈdem·ɪk/
a dangerous disease that infects many people at one time:
What can be done to prevent a bird flu pandemic
2) droplet
noun [ C ]
UK
/ˈdrɒp.lət/ US
/ˈdrɑːp.lət/
a small drop of liquid
https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert
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