ER director for Dallas hospital says coronavirus will feel like mild form of the flu for most people

DALLAS - Aside from being contagious, medical professionals say the biggest issue with the coronavirus is that it can take up to two weeks before someone knows they're infected.

For many, it will feel like the flu.

But some people with compromised immune systems could see other complications.

Brad Sellers, the emergency room director for Methodist Dallas Medical Center, said the hospital is not as concerned with asking people who present symptoms similar to coronavirus whether they have traveled recently, as it is now more widespread.

Emergency rooms are focusing on flu-like symptoms and shortness of breath.

“Coronavirus presents just like the flu. So cough, congestion, runny rose, fever,” Sellers said.

Sellers said a negative pressure room, which reduces the risk of contaminating other patients within that hospital, is where someone presenting those flu-like symptoms, and at high risk of exposure to the new coronavirus, would be isolated and screened.

“If you're sick, you need to quarantine,” he added.

Sellers said people can have coronavirus for more than two weeks without symptoms, possibly infecting others while personally unaware.

And he said one severe symptom of coronavirus is why it can be deadly, as it can lead to lower respiratory problems.

“We really have no immunity built up to it, so when you're infected with it, it takes your body longer to fight it off, which results in respiratory symptoms and that's what people are dying from,” he explained.

The human coronavirus is shown in a file image made from a transmission electron microscopy view. (Photo by Cavallini James/BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

And that's why he said people who have asthma, COPD, congestive heart failure, diabetes, or people over the age of 60, are more susceptible to become severely ill if they catch it.

But, he said that 90 percent of people who get coronavirus will feel like they have a mild form of the flu, and be able to fight it off.

“It's eight percent of people that are going to require hospitalization, and unfortunately two percent of people who get it are going to die from coronavirus,” Sellers said.

He also said masks can be ineffective

The N95 medical masks are better, but those are reserved for hospitals.

He recommends people to wash their hands, avoid touching their face, and cover their mouth when they cough or sneeze.

Keep distance from people who seem sick, use disinfectant, and don't go to work or school if you are sick.