The total impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic will not be fully known for some time. One thing, however, is clear: no matter your specific experiences during the pandemic, your mental health has been affected.

Cleaning, Sanitizing, and Disinfecting… we talk about them all the time, but what do these words really mean, and why should you care?

Viruses are the most abundant pathogen on Earth. Viruses are microscopic parasites, generally much smaller than bacteria. They lack the capacity to thrive and reproduce outside of a host body such as bacteria, animals, or plants. Each viral particle, or virion, consists of a single nucleic acid - RNA or DNA - surrounded by a protein coat. The shapes of these virus particles range from simple helical and icosahedral forms to more complex structures.

In the first post of our Understanding COVID-19 series, we discussed what a virus was and whether they were alive. In this post, we’re going to discuss the specifics of SARS-CoV-2, which is the name of the virus that causes the disease named COVID-19.

Just what is COVID-19? What do we know about it, and how can we keep ourselves safe?