The 20/20 on COVID-19

In my STEAM course called Disease we recently finished our third unit called “World”. In this unit we focused on the spread of diseases. We studied the different classifications of diseases. We focused on the different aspects that are considered when a disease is affecting a community. We studied how epidemics affect the world. We also learned different key concepts epidemiologists use regarding the spread of diseases. For this AP we were instructed to pick a disease of our interest. We then had to study a particular outbreak of this disease from the past. The purpose of this project is to create a newspaper article that informs readers about the outbreak we chose. The article explains what caused the outbreak, how the outbreak was controlled, and what we can do to avoid an outbreak like it from happening again. This AP led me to learn a lot about disease that is current in our world today, COVID-19. Currently we are facing a pandemic. I found it really interesting that I had the opportunity to learn more about outbreaks of diseases in the past and how that is effecting our current day pandemic.

CH. News. (2020)

The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Officials first identified the outbreak in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The WHO (World Health Organization) declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on January 30th, and declared a pandemic on March 11th. As of June 6th, 2020, more than 6.8 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported in more than in about 188 countries and territories, resulting in more than 362,000 deaths; more than 2.78 million people have recovered.
Now, what does that all mean?

COVID-19 Explained:

SARS-CoV-2 is a coronavirus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that target and affect mammals respiratory systems. In the past only two coronaviruses have cause global outbreaks. The first was the SARS coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome, which started spreading in China in 2002. The other was the MERS coronavirus, Middle East respiratory syndrome, which emerged in Saudi Arabia in 2012. The first case of COVID-19 was reported to WHO on December 31st, 2019 as pneumonia of unknown cause detected in Wuhan, China. The virus is concentrated in the nose and lungs of a person and can pass the virus to another person via droplets from their nose or mouth.

Pratyeka. "Confirmed Cases Map." Wikimedia Commons, 2020. 

When humans contract a coronavirus, it usually happens due to an infected animal. One of the most common carriers are bats. Although they do not typically transmit coronaviruses directly to humans, instead the virus came from a zoonotic source where it was transferred from one animal into an animal commonly handled by humans. Once in that second animal, the virus can then easily transfer over to humans. In the case of COVID-19, initial reports from China tied the outbreak to an open seafood market in central Wuhan. As a result, the authorities closed down the market on January 1, 2020.

The main symptoms of this disease according to WHO are fever, cough, fatigue, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, a headache, nausea or vomiting, and diarrhea. Most people recover from the disease without needing hospital treatment. Around 1 out of every 5 people who get COVID-19 become seriously ill and develop difficulty breathing. Older people, and those with underlying health conditions like high blood pressure, heart and lung problems, diabetes, auto immune diseases, or cancer, are at a higher risk of developing a serious illness. 

The COVID-19 outbreak is classified as a pandemic. It is classified as such because it is believe that COVID-19 will likely spread worldwide, and affect almost every country in every corner of the world. The World Health Organization declared the disease a pandemic, which WHO defined in 2010 as “the worldwide spread of a new disease.” There is currently no vaccine for COVID-19, but vaccine development is underway. Biotech company are responding faster than ever to emerging health threats from COVID-19. A timeline for vaccine development shows that COVID-19 is only a couple of months away from moving from the viral genetic-sequence selection to the first human studies. 

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. "Vaccine Development." Bio, 2018-2020.

According to the CDC, the R-Naught of the disease is likely to be 5.7. The range is 3.8-8.9. The factors that effect this and add to a high R-Naught is the lack of awareness of this new pathogen, the Lunar New Year travel and gathering in early and mid-January 2020. 

Some society changes including the government limiting gatherings to 10 people or less, closing all businesses that are not deemed essential, and putting stay at home orders in place. Governors also closed down schools, beaches, and parks in order to limit gathering spaces of people. There was also a recommended 6 feet social distancing between people in different households. The governor of Illinois also put in place a mandatory mask order where anyone who is outside and in public has to wear a mask when they are around other people. I believe what helped lead to a decline in cases where the closure of many jobs, schools, and gathering spaces like malls. I also believe the decline in cases happened because the CDC recommended people keep a 6 feet distance away from each other in public and wear masks at all time. 

Precautionary measures that could helps us from having a future outbreak include 6 feet social distancing, wearing masks, and limiting the amount of people that can gather in one area. Once we also develop a vaccine, we could make this vaccine mandatory for everyone so that we could build up herd immunity and prevent future outbreaks of COVID-19. 

Sources Cited:

Beech, Peter. “What Is COVID-19's R Number – and Why Does It Matter?” World Economic Forum, 2020, www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/covid-19-what-is-the-r-number/.

Begley, Sharon, et al. “Covid-19's Future: Small Outbreaks, Monster Wave, or Ongoing Crisis.” STAT, 5 May 2020, www.statnews.com/2020/05/01/three-potential-futures-for-covid-19/.

“Biotech Companies Respond to Coronavirus (COVID-19).” Bio, 2020, www.bio.org/policy/human-health/vaccines-biodefense/coronavirus.

Cohut, Maria. “Novel Coronavirus: What We Know so Far.” Medical News Today, MediLexicon International, 2020, www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/novel-coronavirus-your-questions-answered#1.-What-is-the-new-virus?

Diamond, Frank, et al. “WHO Labels COVID-19 a Pandemic.” Infection Control Today, 11 Mar. 2020, www.infectioncontroltoday.com/covid-19/who-labels-covid-19-pandemic.

“Q&A On Coronaviruses (COVID-19).” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, 2020, www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/question-and-answers-hub/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses.

Romero-Severson,, Ethan, et al. “Early Release - High Contagiousness and Rapid Spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 - Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal .” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020, wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/7/20-0282_article.