COVID-19 is a respiratory illness caused by a new virus.
When people contract the virus, they can experience a mild illness, or they can become very unwell and require medical care in hospital. Some people will recover easily, and others may become very sick, very quickly.
What are the symptoms?
People with COVID-19 may experience:
How is COVID-19 spread?
When someone who has COVID-19 coughs or exhales they release droplets of infected fluid. Most of these droplets fall on nearby surfaces and objects - such as desks, tables or telephones.
People could catch COVID-19 by touching these contaminated surfaces or objects – and then touching their eyes, nose or mouth.
If you are standing within one metre of a person with COVID-19 you can catch it by breathing in droplets coughed out or exhaled by them. In other words, COVID-19 spreads in a similar way to flu.
How can I protect myself?
There are a number of ways you can protect yourself including:
*This infographic is attributed and comes from the Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
FAQs
The National Disability Insurance Scheme has a full directory of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) that are updated daily. You can find answers to commonly asked questions below.
For more information call the National Coronavirus and COVID-19 Vaccination Helpline on 1800 020 080. The line operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
People with disability can get tested for COVID-19 at home. This is called the Call-to-Test service.
Carers of people with disability can also use the service.
To access the Call-to-Test service call the Victorian COVID-19 hotline on 1800 675 398 and select option 9.