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Incubation Period for Coronavirus

​The coronavirus is the new virus which can cause respiratory diseases in humans and animals. The virus emerged in Wuhan, China and quickly spread across the whole world. Infection due to coronavirus causes a new respiratory disease called COVID-19. 

As with every virus, the specific incubation period of a virus depends from person to person. It is important to know everything about the virus which is spreading daily. Many types of research have been done on time of possible exposure to the virus and then the onset of the symptom and the fever and the detection of the case. 

What to know about incubation?


The incubation period is the time between your contact with the virus and when the body starts showing symptoms. CDC (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention) declared that the normal incubation period for the coronavirus is between 2 to 14 days after exposure to the virus. More than 98% of people who come in contact with the virus show these symptoms within11.5 days at max. For now, the very basic incubation period is 5 days but due to the lack of knowledge about the virus, this number might be subject to change. 

For many people, COVID-19 starts as a general symptom for flu and then develops over as a chronic and much worse disease-causing shortness of breath over a few days. 

There was a research on 181 people in Wuhan, China where the mean incubation period was found out to be around 5.1 days. The max incubation difference of case has been reported with a period of 27 days. So, the incubation period can differ from patient to patient depending on the immune system and the environment they are exposed too. The incubation period now seems wide but would be narrowed down once more research is done in the matter. Incubation period has also been seen being affected by the country the person is in. 

When is the virus most contagious?


According to researches, people who get infected to coronavirus can spread it to other people before they see the symptoms. Thus, the virus is most contagious at that time as the person doesn’t have any idea they have been in contact with the virus. So, the virus is most contagious 1-2 days before the person feel sick. 

Quarantine period


The CDC has clearly said that self-monitoring is very important for COVID as the disease may not have very clear symptoms. This means that the person really should watch for the sign such as fever, cough and shortness of breath and consult their doctor immediately in case they feel they have any symptom. Generally, stay at least 6 feet from other people, wear a cloth mask when you are going out and stay away from any kind of crowded place.

If you have travelled to any place it is necessary to quarantine yourself for 14 days immediately. With health safety needed now more than ever, it’s time to finally consider buying a health insurance policy​ if you don’t have one yet.