--- title: Coronavirus Prevention Is Largely the Same as Flu Prevention description: To prevent coronavirus infection, experts recommend doing the same things you do to avoid getting the flu, like hand-washing. canonical: https://time.com/5775359/coronavirus-prevention-tips/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-01-31T19:05:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T08:09:46.929Z article:section: Health og:title: Want to Protect Yourself from Coronavirus? Do the Same Things You Do Every Winter og:description: 'The routine things work' og:url: https://time.com/5775359/coronavirus-prevention-tips/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf33a26439b3debf7/698a099a16d8841361c37a6e/hand-washing.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2151 og:image:height: 1210 og:image:alt: Hand Washing og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Want to Protect Yourself from Coronavirus? Do the Same Things You Do Every Winter twitter:description: 'The routine things work' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf33a26439b3debf7/698a099a16d8841361c37a6e/hand-washing.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Want to Protect Yourself From Coronavirus? Do the Same Things You Do Every Winter > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators.  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Jan 31, 2020 7:05 PM UTC  Girl washing her hand. Girl washing her hand. Getty Images  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Jan 31, 2020 7:05 PM UTC Many Americans likely grew a little nervous after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Thursday that a novel coronavirus has [spread for the first time within the U.S](https://time.com/5774640/coronavirus-united-states-spread/). But agency officials and other doctors have a simple message for Americans: keep doing what you’re doing to stay healthy. “The best things that you can do are the things that we generally recommend at this time of year to prevent the spread of infectious diseases,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said during a Jan. 30 call with reporters. “Wash your hands, cover your cough, take care of yourself and keep alert to the information that we’re providing, because we’ll provide new information as it becomes available.” In Asia, the novel coronavirus known as [2019-nCoV](https://time.com/5774366/how-coronavirus-spread-china/) is spreading rapidly, and has reached far enough to warrant being designated a [public health emergency of international concern](https://time.com/5774747/coronavirus-who-public-health-emergency/) by the World Health Organization. As of noon Friday, it has infected nearly 10,000 people, most of them in mainland China, and killed 213\. But public health officials have emphasized that risk to the American public remains low, and spreading within the U.S. has so far been limited to one wife-to-husband transmission. _Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter by clicking_ [_on this link_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/coronavirus?source=article)_, and please send any tips, leads, and stories to_ [_virus@time.com_](mailto:virus@time.com)_._ While 2019-nCoV has never been seen before, it’s part of a family of viruses that are well-known both to doctors and the public; the common cold, for example, can be caused by certain coronaviruses. And while influenza is not a coronavirus, it isn’t so different from 2019-nCoV, either. Both result in symptoms including cough and fever, and—from what scientists can tell so far—both seem [to be spread](https://time.com/5773735/coronavirus-outbreak-trajectory/) mainly via respiratory droplets and close person-to-person contact. For those reasons, experts are recommending prevention measures in keeping with those deployed during a normal flu season. The CDC has not recommended that Americans wear [protective masks](https://time.com/5774521/coronavirus-face-mask-prevention/) or take dramatic measures against coronavirus. Messonnier did emphasize during Thursday’s call that people who have been in [Wuhan, China](https://time.com/5773546/americans-trapped-wuhan-coronavirus/)—where the outbreak originated—or spent time around people who have traveled from the area should monitor themselves for symptoms of coronavirus, such as cough, fever and respiratory distress. These people should call their health care provider and stay home from work or school if any symptoms develop. Aside from that, though, there’s not much Americans can or should do at this point, beyond the usual measures. “Good hand-washing helps. Staying healthy and eating healthy will also help,” says Dr. Sharon Nachman, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at New York’s Stony Brook Children’s Hospital. “The things we take for granted actually do work. It doesn’t matter what the virus is. The routine things work.” And while the flu shot won’t protect against coronavirus—and there’s [no vaccine for the new virus](https://time.com/5768956/wuhan-coronavirus-vaccine-treatment/) yet—experts are still recommending that people get vaccinated against influenza if they haven’t yet, since the likelihood of getting the flu in the U.S. is far higher than contracting coronavirus. (For context, the CDC estimates that around 19 million Americans have gotten the flu [so far this season](https://time.com/5765486/flu-season-2020/), compared to only a handful who have developed coronavirus domestically.) 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