Can pets get the coronavirus? What are the major symptoms to look out for?
These are just a sample of the questions kids across the country asked about the novel coronavirus during a question-and-answer video recently hosted by BlackDoctor.org contributor Dr. Renee Matthews and Eden Wilson, 14, of Lemonerdy. Dr. Kelly N. Woods, an Atlanta-based internal medicine physician, along with Dr. Cindy M. Duke, a Las Vegas-based obstetrician-gynecologist, and Dr. Robyn Johnson, a Laurel, Maryland-based veterinarian, answered questions along with Dr. Renee.
Considering how this pandemic has pretty much shut down America, it’s no wonder young people would have questions about it.
“Coronaviruses have been around for a very long time. They were actually first discovered in 1960,” said Dr. Kelly before explaining how COVID-19 first originated in an animal market in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
Dr. Renee described how COVID-19 attacks the respiratory tract — mouth, nose, throat and lungs — making it very challenging for people with chronic respiratory diseases.
“If you’re asthmatic, it could be a really, really bad course for you,” she warned.
That’s why it’s important for asthma sufferers to pay attention to their asthma attack triggers, take their medications and have an asthma action plan, which will let them know whether they’re just having an asthma attack or experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, Dr. Renee stressed.
“You’ll know the difference and then you’ll know what to do,” she continued.
See more questions answered in the video below and be sure to share it with any children in your life.