The Coronavirus has recently become an issue starting January 2020 in Wuhan, China and has spread worldwide. The World Health Organization confirmed 60,416 cases of the virus and 1,370 deaths in the world. Recently, the Coronavirus has entered the United States, which has caused an uprise in the news and daily conversations. 

 “The virus originally came into play with humans by people in China eating bats, at least that’s what doctors believe,” Health science teacher Craig Thompson said.

When the Coronavirus started arising in Wuhan, the doctors thought that it could only be spread from animal to human interaction. Since the start of the Coronavirus, doctors have learned it can be spread from human to human interaction as well. 

“Spread from person-to-person happens among close contacts (about 6 feet),” Thompson said. “Person-to-person spread is thought to occur mainly via respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, similar to how influenza and other respiratory pathogens spread. There is much more to learn about the transmissibility, severity, and other features associated with Corona and investigations are ongoing.”

When it comes to news about diseases happening worldwide, many students and teens do not pay attention to what is going on around them. Sophomore Zoë Sullivan was not aware of the virus until her health science class talked about it.

“It’s just crazy to think that I could have possibly not known about what precautions to take to prevent the virus if I wasn’t in that class,” Sullivan said. “A lot of teens tend to just ignore the news, so learning it in class is very important. I believe that all of our science teachers should talk to kids about how to prevent it so everyone can get that knowledge, and not just hear about it on TV.”

For confirmed Corona infections, reported illnesses have ranged from people with little to no symptoms to people being severely ill and dying. Symptoms can include fever, cough, shortness of breath and other flu-like symptoms.

“With the virus, it can be hard to detect since it has many symptoms like the flu or even pneumonia,” Sullivan said. 

Although the Coronavirus is in the United States, doctors are working hard to make sure symptoms, spread and death do not happen to the 13 victims of the disease. 

In order to prevent the virus from affecting people, the World Health Organization says everyone should wash hands frequently, practice respiratory hygiene, avoid consumption of raw or undercooked animal products and seek medical care if concerns arise for the Coronavirus. Good daily hygiene will keep bodies protected and will help kill off any unwanted bacteria in the body. 

“If someone is worried about the virus, there are tests that doctors can run to see if they have it,” Sullivan said. “Although they have symptoms of the virus it doesn’t mean they actually have it. It’s truly incredible and terrifying what viruses can start by simple actions we do and how the body reacts to it; truly incredible.”