The Crisis of the Decade: What's New?

The world has been under lockdown for the past few months as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Governments were initially unaware of the severity of the crisis and the exponential growth of infection, but since then numerous actions have been taken to prevent further spread of the virus.

According to Worldometer, as of April 30th, there were about three million people around the world infected with the virus. Around 1 million of those patients are American. Most sources indicate that the number of people infected is likely to grow.

There are many drugs undergoing clinical trials to determine their effectiveness in treating COVID-19. However, as of right now, there is no approved and readily-available treatment for the virus. Those who become infected are encouraged to rest and stay home. It remains important for students in the community to be washing their hands and staying home to prevent the spread of the virus: quarantine is both a public safety concern and a moral issue.

For students, education continues via online platforms such as Zoom and Google Classroom. Learning environments and expectations will be widely different for the next few months as a result of online schooling. In addition, many state-wide standardized tests have been canceled and AP tests are open-notes.

It is uncertain when schools will reopen again, and students should expect to see online school as the norm due to public safety concerns. NJ Governor Phil Murphy puts it best, saying, “We cannot rush to reopen anything and risk undoing all the extraordinary work that you [the public] have done so far” (NJ.com).

However, distance learning is by no means a time for students to slack off, as they receive just as much, if not more, schoolwork than they did while physically in the classroom. This time spent at home is an excellent opportunity for students to develop independent learning skills that will be beneficial to them in the future.