Review of 2019 Coronavirus
The 2019 n-Coronavirus is a new virus that emerged in Wuhan, China in recent months. The virus is very dangerous because our immune systems have not built up defenses to it, since we have not yet encountered it. My previous blog discussed the signs and symptoms of it, but in this blog I will cover the changes that have occurred in the week since my last post. Most of the information is still the same, there have not been any major new discoveries involving the virus. This concerns me because I would have hoped that more information about the spread of the disease, or a potential cure would have been discovered at this point.
Updates
In my opinion, the most shocking thing about the novel coronavirus is the high number of deaths it has caused. A recent New York Times article reveals that over 800 have died in China from the virus. That is a scary high number. In addition there are now 37,198 confirmed cases. If so many people are infected, a pandemic can easily arise, meaning the infection spreads internationally, even though as of now it is still relatively contained to China. There are only two reported deaths that occurred outside of China, but still close to China since they occurred in Hong Kong and in the Philippines. Besides this, there have not been more reported deaths outside of China, but there are confirmed cases in other countries, such as in Spain and Britain.
Preventative Measures
Thankfully, many people are working hard to take steps to prevent further spread of this disease. For example, quarantines have been enforced for up to 14 days after flights and ships have arrived in different locations from Wuhan, CHina to ensure no one was transmitting the infection. In addition, evidence is showing that the virus is transmitted through droplet transmission, and the World Health Organization has advice for different ways to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. WHO suggests frequently washing hands with soap and water and maintaining 3 feet of distance between yourself and others, especially if they are showing concerning symptoms (coughing, sneezing, etc.) These two methods are the best defenses against the spread of the virus because it will not allow the droplets to enter your respiratory system. In addition, I would suggest encouraging others sneezing and coughing into their elbows, to minimize the spread of droplets into the air and onto hands, which are easy manners of transmission. I hope that by next week, microbiologists and other scientists will have made progress in finding an effective solution to the novel coronavirus.
