Once you’ve been infected with the coronavirus, it spreads through your body via cell-to cell transmission. This is how it works:

The coronavirus contains ribonucleic acid (RNA) surrounded by a protective layer, which has spike proteins on the outer surface that can latch on to certain human cells. Once inside the cells, the viral RNA starts to replicate and also turn on the production of proteins, both of which allow the virus to infect more cells and spread, especially to the lungs.