“The number one enemy to the whole world” – WHO

The new coronavirus is spreading at a rapid rate. It has sadly taken the lives of around 3,200 people and has infected around 93,000 people around the world.

It’s moving from continent to continent, making its way around the globe. With it spreading at this rate, it’s becoming very unlikely that this disease will be eradicated from the world, but there is still hope that it will be.

According to Kathy Simmermon, a teacher at Milford High, “The corona virus is not going to go away and there are a lot of coronavirus out there; most of the time, it’s found in animals, and usually they don’t go from animals to humans, but this time, it did. It’s hard to tell if the information out of China is accurate, but I’m tracking the mortality rate with statistics like the ship that came out of Japan.” She elaborated, “There are only isolated cases in the United States where there are no known outbreaks. Although, in the end, it doesn’t seem to be very deadly, just making people very sick.”  Now that it came from an animal to a human, it can now go from human to human because it mutated.

Not all have lost hope though. It’s still possible that quarantines and travel bans will halt the outbreak and  eradicate the virus, and the world will never see the coronavirus again, as epidemiologist Dr. Mike Ryan, Head of Health Emergencies at the World Health Organization, told STAT on February 1, 2020. That’s what happened with SARS in 2003.

Although many experts view that happy outcome as increasingly unlikely, “Independent self-sustaining outbreaks of 2019-nCoV (coronavirus) in major cities globally could become inevitable because of substantial exportation of pre-symptomatic cases,” scientists at the University of Hong Kong concluded in a paper published in The Lancet at the end of January.

This is a serious virus that  needs to be addressed and solved. Since this outbreak, there have only been 15 cases in the United States since February 15th; not a lot of work is being done to get a vaccine made or a cure at the moment. The only positive regarding this situation is that if it infects enough people regularly, there will be greater business incentive to develop a vaccine and other countermeasures.

Many people are wondering what the symptoms of the coronavirus look like, as it’s very hard to detect. The most common symptoms are a runny nose, cough, and congestion for about 10 days.

No one with the virus ever ran a fever. The coronavirus appears to be a seasonal disease, reflecting the fact that viruses can’t tolerate high heat and humidity, preferring the cool and dry conditions of winter and spring, according to Richard Webby, an influenza expert.

That’s why the flu, as well as the four coronaviruses, are less prevalent in warm, humid months. If the new coronavirus follows suit, then containment efforts, plus the arrival of summer, should drive infections to near  zero. However, in these months, people should do all they can to prevent themselves from getting sick, which includes washing hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, avoiding touching the eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands, and avoiding close contact with people who are sick.

When someone does happen to get sick, most people don’t want to infect others, and so people need to stay home, disinfect, and rest and if they don’t get better, they should see a doctor.

This disease has been a very rough way to start the 2020 year. With the growing death rate and so many people facing bad health, the most anyone can hope for is that China is able to stop this in its tracks and contain it quickly. It hasn’t seem to have worked as of March 4, 2020; the coronavirus has made it to the United States,  infecting 103 Americans and killing nine thus far.