As the outbreak of COVID-19, commonly referred to as the coronavirus, spreads across the country, anyone can take basic steps to help avoid infection, just as they should with seasonal influenza.

University of Mississippi Medical Center infectious diseases experts and the World Health Organization (WHO) advise frequent hand-washing as a first line of defense. Regularly and thoroughly clean your hands with soap and water as directed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or with a hand sanitizer containing at least 60 percent alcohol to kill viruses that may be on your hands.

Chances are good that at some point, you’ve had some sort of coronavirus.

Chances are slim, however, that those living in Mississippi are at risk for the novel coronavirus strain making news headlines, a new coronavirus that’s the cause of a worldwide outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in late 2019 in Wuhan City in China’s Hubei Province.