The coronavirus can be spread from person to person before someone realizes they even have it, according to StraitsResearch Healthcare Researcher

Recently Update by Chinese Media at a Sunday press conference (26/01/2020), (Chinese Health Minister — Ma said) someone with the virus could show no symptoms they have the coronavirus anytime between a day and 14 days, CBS News previously reported. During that time, an asymptomatic person is also infectious and could spread the coronavirus to others, Ma said, which makes it difficult to stop its spread.

Coronavirus symptoms include nasal congestion, headache, cough, sore throat, and a fever, according to infectious disease experts and the University of California San Francisco professor Charles Chiu

“At present, the rate of development of the epidemic is accelerating,” Ma said at the press conference. “I am afraid that it will continue for some time, and the number of cases may increase.”

The virus, which originated in Wuhan, China, has killed 56 people and infected more than 2,000, Reuters reported on Sunday.

Although officials have quarantined Wuhan and some other neighboring cities, the virus has spread to at least 12 other countries: Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore, Nepal, France, Australia, Malaysia, Canada, and the US.

The coronavirus, or 2019-nCoV, began at an animal and seafood market in the city of Wuhan and has since spread to several other countries, including the United States. The illness is now said to be transferable between humans. As news of the virus spread and death tolls began to spike, many have begun to question how and what level dangerous the new outbreak is. Coronaviruses, which get their name from their crown-like appearance, come in many types that cause illnesses in people and animals.

Currently, there are no tests designed to detect this exact coronavirus strain, since ‘coronavirus’ refers to a family of viruses that cause common colds, Chiu said, and current coronavirus tests that doctors use can’t detect the Wuhan coronavirus strain.

Someone who gets a coronavirus could have minor symptoms and develop flu or develop a more severe or life-threatening condition like pneumonia.

Others viruses are infectious before symptoms appear

The Wuhan coronavirus isn’t the only viral infection that is infectious before a person shows symptoms.

According to the National Health Service in the UK, chickenpox, the common cold, and the flu are all infectious multiple days before a person with the virus shows any symptoms, like a rash in the case of chickenpox or fever for the flu.