FILE – This file photo provided by the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases shows a colorized transmission of the MERS coronavirus that emerged in 2012. Health officials on Friday, May 2, 2014 said the deadly virus from the Middle East has turned up for the first time in the U.S. (AP Photo/National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases via The Canadian Press, File)

Dr. Oz appeared on Fox & Friends on Sunday morning and said something I hadn’t thought about before. He told the panel that many people have already had the coronavirus and didn’t know it because 80% of patients experience very subtle symptoms. Dr. Oz said:

I am positive I know people who were infected and didn’t even realize it because it happened before we thought coronavirus was here. There is someone I know who was actually at a party at the Oscars with the cast members from “Parasite,” a Korean movie, who got fevers, shortness of breath, fatigue. I have no idea whether he had coronavirus or not. But he’s sure he did.

And you hear these stories and you realize this has been around. A lot of people had it and didn’t even realize it. 80% of people have very subtle symptoms. Subtle in that they have a fever most of the time, but nothing that would catch your eye, but we don’t actually know how often it’s out there.

I interviewed a person on my show last week who is 40 days out from his virus. He’s still secreting virus particles and not just from his nose and his mouth, from his eyes and they’re checking him rectally.

Just shaking someone’s hand, he said, doesn’t mean you’re going to contract the virus, especially if both of you washed your hands.

Though we’re tired of hearing it, according to Dr. Oz, washing your hands alone reduces your chances of infection by 50%. He calls it a do-it-yourself vaccine. “It’s that powerful.”

The most important thing, he says, is social distancing.

People ask him ‘Are we overreacting?’ all the time.

He said, “We do not want to be Italy. We’re better off if your elected public officials overreact a little bit, shutting things down that didn’t need to be shut down, and then loosening things up a little.”

Harvard Medical School’s website backs up much of what Dr. Oz had to say. I read that some patients will experience no symptoms at all. The website indicated that children, “including very young children,” can be infected with coronavirus. But “children tend to experience milder symptoms such as fever, runny nose, and cough. Some children have had severe complications, but this has been less common. Children with underlying health conditions may be at increased risk for severe illness.”

It’s an interesting website which contains recorded videos and links for further research if anyone is so inclined.