The True Severity Of The Coronavirus

The novel corona-virus, or Covid-19, a disease that has rapidly grown in the media this year, has now arguably become a global epidemic. What started as a widespread of severe illness in Wuhan, a city in the Hubei province of China has now raised concern to citizens all around the world after it had spread to nearby countries such as Japan and South Korea, and even more geographically distanced nations such as the United States and Italy. With that being said, many regions and areas are taking extreme precautionary measures to prevent spread of germs and bacteria. Amongst the most popular methods are the exponentially increasing use of face masks, as well as quarantining individuals who have travelled and/or show symptoms of sickness such as fever, nausea and cold sweats. 

As many know, the mass spread of the virus has raised concern in the ISB community. After a recent vacation period where numerous families of the school travelled, ISB is taking preventative action by quarantining many families who have travelled, and closing down the school from March 6 to March 23rd. As a result of this, a few students have had to interact in school via online learning, a process put in place because students and teachers cannot come to school. In spite of the school taking cautious measures, many families are questioning the true severity of the disease, and wether the right decision was made. While there are no known cases in the Nichada area of the corona-virus, it is important that the school does take these steps, and here’s why.

What Is ‘Corona Virus’

The term ‘corona-virus’ is a commonly used medical name for a set of diseases particularly derived from human interaction with animals. The term ‘Corona’ simply means that it began in other species and has eventually been passed on to humans through one way or another. This particular virus, unlike some human-transmitted illnesses, is fairly easy to pass on, with it being airborne. Various infections secretions such as coughing between one infected individual and a healthy individual can be enough for the disease to be transferred, but so little as staying within six feet of an infected individual for a significant amount of time can also be enough. Due to the easiness of transmission, it is easy to depict why the world is taking such extreme caution.

Origins of the Virus

On New Years Eve, several people in the city of Wuhan, China began feeling severe illness after visiting the popular fish market, a staple tradition in the Hubei province. After multiple more incidents, public health researchers and virologists diagnosed the origins of the disease to be from one of the city’s wet markets. As per Hubei tradition, many customers had live animals killed and skinned in front of their eyes, emitting massive sums of bacteria from these carcasses. Because these markets have been tied to the famous ‘SARS’ disease, a wide spreading coronavirus in 2003, concern rapidly grew over the severity and spread of the new Covid-19. The concern was rightful, as the disease has now spread out to over 90,000 people globally, with at least 80,000 in China.

Global Spread of the Disease

Unlike SARS, a previous corona-virus largely limited to China, the Covid-19 illness has spread globally due to increased travel amongst Chinese citizens. The measured impact has been identified as spreading to 73 countries across all continents, Antarctica excluded. Outside of China, some of the most infected nations include South Korea, Iran and Italy. Italy, now the second most at-risk nation, has reported 79 total deaths. Iran, not too far after, has reached 77 total deaths, and South Korea has reported 32 deaths. Additionally, nations like the US, Spain and Israel all have reported numerous recent deaths. Thailand has recorded 43 total cases, with 1 in the Nonthaburi area.

One specific large contributor to the global widespread of Covid-19 has been the activity of the Sun Princess Dock, a cruise ship carrying passengers around Asia. On it’s stop in Yokohama, Japan, the ship reported its first case of the illness, with 3,700 passengers on board. Many protested, and some even left the ship at it’s stop in Yokohama, but those on board continued to be at risk of contamination. Those in control were hesitant to force quarantine amongst the ships passengers, however those measures should have been made. As of today, there have been 700 total cases and 6 deaths, a large sum for a ship travelling across numerous nations, potentially passing the disease as it goes.

How severe is the Virus?

While being very contagious, the corona-virus is not in fact very deadly. While many people were concerned with the popular ‘zombie-like’ affects of the virus, where the viral video of Wuhan citizens supposedly dropping dead sparked the internet, the misleading antics of the media have somewhat not accurately depicted the true gravity of the illness in itself. A demographic by ‘Worldometers’ illuminates the total number of active cases of the disease is an estimated 39,007, with just 6,771 patients in critical condition. This exemplifies that of all current cases, just 17% of the infected are at risk of death. In the bigger picture, there have been around 54,151 closed cases of the disease, with just 3,202 deaths. At a mere 6% mortality rate, it seems that the media has sparked somewhat unnecessary fear of this virus. As well as these statistics, a study by UChicago’s medicine school insinuated that 80% of individuals recover at home after just feeling cold-like symptoms. Additionally, in a community like Nichada, where it is more clean than typical districts, and where most people can fortunately afford necessary treatment, the corona-virus may not in fact be as threatening an outbreak as perceived.

 All in all, the novel corona-virus has certainly become a global concern, nearing a tipping point daily. With the global transmission of a disease beginning in Wuhan, China, concern has grown and vast safety and precautionary measures have been put in place. While the news of ISB quarantining students who have travelled recently has sparked unhappiness across the Nichada community, it is rightfully justified.