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Page 12 NEWS BRIEFS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11 Coronavirus Outbreak: Live Updates People would also be allowed to walk outside if they’re still practicing social distancing. He said the order was open-ended and there was no timeline for when it might be lifted. “Our state and healthcare delivery system are signifi- cantly impacted by the rapid increase in COVID-19 cases,” Newsom wrote. “We project that roughly 56 percent of our population — 25.5 million people — will be infected with virus over an eight week period.” That number is the estimate if nothing is done to stop the spread of the virus. China claims no new domestic cases of COVID-19 For the first time since the start of the outbreak, China has reported no new domestic cases of COVID-19. According to reports from the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDC), there have been no new domestic cases of COVID-19 in the country since the outbreak was first reported in late December. The threat of the virus has not completely dissipated. They reported 34 new cases of the virus in people who contracted it outside China. U.S. shuts down border with Canada As the number of reported COVID-19 U.S. cases rises rapidly, the United States has shut down the border with Canada for all nonessential travel. While trade will still continue between the countries, the news that the border is shut down underscores the severity of the viral outbreak. Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, spoke about the border closing Mar. 18, telling citizens he had been in contact with the president about how to slow the outbreak. “We have agreed that both Canada and the United States will temporarily restrict all nonessential travel across the Canada-U.S. border,” Trudeau said. He continued: “In both our countries we are encourag- ing people to stay home, we are telling our citizens not to visit their neighbors if they don’t absolutely have to… this is an extension of that prudent approach.” Hospital ship USNS Comfort to head to NYC The USNS Comfort is expected to arrive in New York City in the coming weeks. The ship has the capacity to treat 1,000 patients. The federal government has two hospital ships that will be deployed in an effort to relieve overcrowding at hospitals amid the outbreak. The USNS Mercy will be stationed in San Diego, California. New York has been hard hit by the virus with over 2,000 cases. Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a press conference recently that cases rose by 1,000 in just one day. Cuomo also said finding ways to get more hospital beds is key. He said converting facilities and getting the federal governments to help create floating hospitals will help them treat patients in need. Regarding the USNS Comfort, the governor said “this is an extraordinary step obviously, it’s literally a float- ing hospital and it will add capacity.” Not sure if you have COVID-19 or the flu? Know the symptoms Experts note that the novel coronavirus, the flu, and allergies have different symptoms. The main symptoms of the novel coronavirus are fever, tiredness, dry cough, and shortness of breath. Allergies have more chronic symptoms and include sneezing, wheezing, and coughing. The flu has symptoms similar to the novel coron- avirus, such as fever and body aches, but influenza usually doesn’t cause shortness of breath. If you have a runny nose or itchy eyes, it doesn’t mean you have the novel coronavirus. However, if you have a dry cough, fatigue, and a fever, you might have COVID-19. Then again, it could also be seasonal flu. “Not all symptoms are created equally. While it might seem like you have coronavirus, you may simply be experiencing seasonal allergies or influenza,” Lindsey Elmore, PharmD, a board-certified pharmacotherapy specialist and host of “The Lindsey Elmore Show,” told Healthline. “There are many symptoms of cold, flu, and COVID that are similar, and it may be difficult to distinguish,” added Ramzi Yacoub, PharmD, chief pharmacy officer of the prescription savings service SingleCare. “They’re all caused by viruses, but different viruses cause each of these infections.” “However, one key difference between the three is a symptom of coronavirus is shortness of breath,” Yacoub told Healthline. “Shortness of breath is a com- mon sign of COVID-19 which occurs prior to the devel- opment of pneumonia. Generally, the flu or a cold does not cause shortness of breath unless it has progressed to pneumonia, in which case you’ll also want to contact your healthcare provider.” Dr. Subinoy Das, chief medical officer at Tivic Health, said the common cold rarely causes shortness of breath after fever develops. “Influenza does mimic COVID-19 very closely, but the shortness of breath is not usually as severe as it is with COVID-19,” Das told Healthline. With COVID-19, shortness of breath often occurs 5 to 10 days after the first sign of fever, Das said. Sneezing isn’t a symptom Sneezing, runny nose, facial pain, postnasal drip, and itchy eyes are common symptoms of allergies or the common cold. But they’re not typical of COVID-19. “The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, tiredness, and dry cough,” according to the World Health Organization (WHO)Trusted Source. “Some patients may have aches and pains, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat, or diarrhea.” “In a report from China of more than 1,000 patients, nasal congestion was seen in only one out of every 20 patients,” Dr. Kristine S. Arthur, an internist at MemorialCare Medical Group in Laguna Woods, California, told Healthline. COVID-19 symptoms usually appear 2 to 14 days after exposure. However, “Some people become infected but don’t develop any symptoms and don’t feel unwell,” according to the WHO. These people can still transmit the virus to those around them, even if they don’t feel ill. Allergies have chronic symptoms COVID-19, like the flu or common cold, is an acute ill- ness, meaning people feel fine until symptoms start showing up. Allergies, on the other hand, “are usually chronic, pre- senting with symptoms off and on for weeks, months, or even years,” Dr. David M. Cutler, family medicine physician at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California, told Healthline. Experts also noted that, in most parts of the country, it’s not allergy season yet. “Allergies should not cause a fever or body aches,” Arthur said. “Generally, [there is] no cough unless you have a lot of nasal drainage.” Allergies also may cause wheezing, she added, espe- cially in people with asthma. “Allergy symptoms tend to vary with the environment: worsening with exposure to dust, pollen, or animal dander, whereas cold symptoms tend to persist regard- less of time of day, weather, locality, or other environ- mental factors,” Cutler said. Also, as with COVID-19, “Colds are more likely to have generalized symptoms like fever, headache, and body aches, whereas allergies usually affect only the respira- tory tract,” Cutler said. “Allergy symptoms tend to improve with antihistamine and other allergy-specific medication. Colds are more likely to respond to decon- gestants, acetaminophen, fluids, and rest.” Despite symptoms, it’s not the flu COVID-19 IS NOT THE FLU. As one of a class of pathogens known as coronaviruses, it’s actually more closely related to the common cold than the seasonal flu. However, despite some overlap, the typical symptoms of COVID-19 are more similar to the flu (fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches, fatigue) than the common cold (runny or stuffy nose, sore throat, cough, congestion, slight body aches, mild headache, sneezing, low-grade fever, malaise). “In terms of differentiating between flu and COVID-19, it can be almost impossible to distinguish,” Dr. Jake Deutsch, co-founder and clinical director of Cure Urgent Care centers and Specialty Infusion in New York. “That’s why people are recommended to have flu vaccinations so it can at least… minimize the risk of flu in light of everything else. Fevers, body aches, cough- ing, sneezing could all be equally attributed to them both, so it really means that if there’s a concern for flu, there’s a concern for COVID-19.” If you have a mild case of COVID-19, the flu, or a cold, treatment is geared toward management of symptoms, said Cutler. “Generally, acetaminophen is recommend- ed for fevers,” he said. “Cough drops and cough syrups can also help keep mucus secretions thinner. If there is associated nasal congestion, antihistamines may be useful.” CONTINUED PAGE 13 MARCH 23, 2020: Navajo Nation announces three new cases, bringing their total to 29 cases. The three new cases are from Navajo and Apache counties, and one in New Mexico. COVID19 CORONAVIRUS