Embedded Files
by Sophia DeLisi
The ascendance of COVID-19 has impacted our world in many ways: from closing schools, purifying the air, to even inspiring families to reconnect with each other. This global pandemic has inspired more change of a great variety in a span of weeks by exploiting flaws in long standing regulations, such as health care and the stability of our economy. However, this inspiration for reformation has not come without the cost of thousands of lives and the endangerment of millions after its initial emergence from Wuhan, China.
There are many rumors about how COVID-19 was started, whether it is a governmental bio weapon or a miscalculated stride towards controlling the population. Rumors such as these saturate the media and the internet, making factual knowledge harder to distinguish. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the U.S National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases stated that the current evidence suggests that this disease “could not have been artificially or deliberately manipulated,” which effectively dismisses the many accusations against the Chinese government. Furthermore the CDC, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention endorses this fact, establishing that COVID-19 is a coronavirus, which means that it is from a “family of viruses” that are common amongst animals. These coronaviruses are then prone to allow infection from animal-to-person, which makes it likely that live animal markets of Wuhan, China caused the spread rather than the rumored bat consumption, lab carelessness or nation rivalry. In addition, coronaviruses of similar nature, spreading from animals to humans have taken place in the past. According to the World Health Organization, it was established that these coronaviruses also caused “respiratory infections ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases”. These coronaviruses were the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Both MERS and SARS infected bats and camels and extended outwards to humans, which suggests that COVID-19 has to have “evolved in nature and jumped species” (Fauci). Ultimately the idea of someone finding the coronavirus within wildlife, containing it in a lab and letting it go, as opposed to contamination within live animal markets, is too far fetched.
While the ‘end’ to the pandemic is unclear, a vaccine is in the making and we as a community are not helpless to halting the spread. Since the coronavirus is a respiratory infection, the World Health Association has asserted that the spread comes from “droplets from the nose or mouth” that can transfer through sneezing, coughing or speaking. Infected “droplets” can land on public objects such as doorknobs and tables and can infect people if they touch their eyes, mouth or nose. Everyone can do their part by “wearing a cloth face covering in public settings” (CDC), staying home and following social distancing. Stay safe, Tigers!
Sources:
The World Health Organization:
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/summary.html
Dr. Fauci’s Interview with National Geographic:
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