Corona

My dear ladies and gentlemen,

We find ourselves in the midst of a pandemic. The likes of which, turns out, our generation has never seen before.

Although a travel blog is normally written about travels, this month there are next to none. And there shouldn't be for the majority of people either. This is due to the extenuating circumstances around the coronavirus, its official name COVID-19. Many countries have locked down and all non-essential travel has either strong advisories or is fully prohibited by governments in some countries as a result of the virus.

COVID-19 is caused by SARS-CoV-2, or severe acute respiratory syndrome. Coronaviruses cause respiratory tract infections in humans such as the common cold, but can also be more lethal, such as the 2003 SARS and 2012 MERS outbreaks.

COVID-19 was first confirmed in the province of Hubei, China and is thought to have started at a wet market in the city of Wuhan. The DNA of the virus is 96% similar to bat coronaviruses, therefore it is suspected to have come from bats, although there have been suspicions of pangolins as a middle host between bats and humans. Although cases of the virus in humans are reported to have officially begun in December, there have been cases traced back as far as November 17, 2019.

The name coronavirus comes from the Latin word Corona which means crown or halo. Under a microscope, the virion or virus particle, is seen to have many club-like spikes on its surface, giving the look of a crown.

COVID-19 is spread through close contact with the respiratory droplets of an infected person when they sneeze or cough. Although the virus is not generally airborne, these droplets may still be produced during breathing. Another way it spreads is when people touch a surface that's been contaminated, and subsequently touch their face afterwards. Although most contagious when infected people are symptomatic, its spread may be possible before symptoms appear.

The incubation period is generally 5 days, but can range from between 2 to 14 days. COVID-19 infects the lungs. The three main reported symptoms are fever, continuous cough which then leads to shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. A continuous cough means coughing for more than an hour, or having many coughing episodes in 24 hours. Doctors have also noticed rising cases of people who have lost their sense of smell in COVID-19 cases, a phenomenon called anosmia. However, other viruses such as the common cold can also cause similar symptoms.

COVID-19 can lead to pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS. There is currently no vaccine or specific treatment other than simply the person's own immune system to fight off the virus. Supportive therapies are used in the most severe cases such as ventilators.

Each day, tens of thousands of cases are being reported from around the world, although it is thought that public health authorities may be unaware of the majority of cases globally. From the day of the first reported case, it took 67 days to reach 100, 000. The next 100, 000 took only 11 days, and the next only 4 days. As of this blog posting there are 745, 000 confirmed cases worldwide in 190 countries. Of those, 156, 500 people have recovered and 35, 000 have sadly passed away.

The disease has been reported to be mild in around 80 percent of cases, 14 percent are severe, and 6 percent are critical. Critical cases can result in severe pneumonia and multiple organ failure, resulting in death.

Preventative measures against the virus include washing hands frequently, covering your mouth when coughing or sneezing, and social distancing, which means maintaining a safe distance between people of at least 2 meters. A person who thinks they have the virus should self isolate for at least 7 days from the time their symptoms start and 14 days if they have come into contact with a person who has tested positive.

The WHO declared the coronavirus a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director general, stated that the WHO was "deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction."

Well, better late than never. Wash your hands, cough and sneeze into your elbow, monitor and self isolate if you have symptoms, and maybe facetime your grandparents for a while. You could end up saving your life or someone else's because you decided to sit on your couch instead of going to Mass on Sunday.

As the great Benjamin Franklin once said, "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail." And the top doctor in the United States, Dr. Fauci said, "if it looks like you're overreacting, you're probably doing the right thing." I think in this day and age, words to live by.

Bailey Sue