Doctor Paul Harris is a pulmonologists at Mercy Health Saint Mary’s in Grand Rapids and he says the exposure to the virus begins in the mouth, the eyes and the nose.
“When you are exposed to the virus, the virus gets in through one of those entrances and it needs to replicate a little bit and when it replicates is when you start having more symptoms and that why it can take 7 to 14 days for the symptoms to manifest.”
The symptoms can range from mild to severe and how they show up depends on how prepared your body is to fight off the virus.
“Its all a matter of inflammation. The virus gets in to the throat and the lungs and causes tremendous inflammation and when inflammation occurs the lungs can’t transfer oxygen as well and then you get short of breath and your oxygen levels decrease.”
And ventilators Harris says are used only when treating a critically ill patient.
“And rather than waiting for them to deteriorate we put them on the ventilator right away so that’s just raising the number of people in ventilators that we need in order to help these people.”
As the virus spreads, Harris says he doesn’t believe we are prepared for what is to come but reminds us the only way to keep the virus from spreading is by washing our hands and social distancing.
“And the biggest thing is don’t touch your eyes, your nose, wipe your nose, sneeze in your hand that would spread the virus from the surface that you touched.”