Doctors: Most people recover from coronavirus

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) -Nearly 70,000 people have recovered from the coronavirus. Johns Hopkins University is tracking that in real-time with an interactive map which shows the spread of the virus. Doctors say most people who become infected will recover.

"We want people to remember the vast majority of individuals have mild illness, mild symptoms so kind of like the common cold, maybe a mild flu and so most of those individuals will recover on their own with just lots of fluids. You can take fever reducers,” Dr. David Hicks, Deputy Health Officer at the Jefferson County Health Department said.

What happens if you get the coronavirus and recover from it? Can you get it again?

“The jury is still out on that. There is some thought a person can get re-infected but we still don’t know enough to really say that,” Hicks said.

While COVID-19 can make anyone sick, the CDC says people ages 60 and up are most vulnerable especially if they have underlying serious medical conditions. Hicks tells us the recovery from that could be more intense.

"If they don’t seek care or get identified, certainly it can progress and that’s when you start getting cough and the shortness of breath and maybe hospitalized. If you are at the point of being hospitalized that recovery absolutely takes longer and a lot more intensive management,” Hicks said.

People have asked us about the 14-day quarantine. Researchers say people who contract the new coronavirus could develop symptoms between five and 12 days after their exposure, but most people have symptoms that show up on day 11. The CDC says the 14-day window will cover 99% of all infectious cases.

You can view the coronavirus worldwide map here.

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