By Marielena McDermott, Staff Reporter
On March 6, President Donald Trump signed a bipartisan $8.3 billion deal for aid in developing a coronavirus vaccine and slowing the spread of the disease. Just two days earlier, California had its first coronavirus death and state officials declared it a state health emergency.
The coronavirus (officially named COVID-19) was first discovered on Dec. 31, 2019 when China notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of pneumonia outbreaks in Wuhan, a central manufacturing city and tourist destination.
COVID-19 comes from a branch of the Coronaviridae family. These viruses are named after their spikey figure when seen under a microscope. Experts believe the virus is spread through close contact with others, namely coughing and sneezing. Symptoms of people who have contracted the virus have been noted as fever, coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath.
On Jan. 30, the WHO declared COVID-19 an international public health emergency. As of March 6, it had infected all continents except Antarctica. The U.S. confirmed its first case on Jan. 21 in Seattle, WA. The patient had recently traveled to the infected area of Wuhan, China, where the disease began. Since then, there have been 14 deaths in Washington. As of Friday, over 250 cases have been recorded in the U.S.
“These developments in terms of the evolution of the outbreak and further development of transmission, these are of grave concern and have spurred countries into action,” Dr. Mike Ryan, a WHO official, said.
Many countries have taken action by evacuating their citizens out of areas near Wuhan. Japan and Australia have evacuated their citizens from the country. China has over 80,000 cases reported of the virus.
In comparison, influenza has a worldwide death toll of 291,000 to 646,00 per year, while COVID-19 has an approximated death toll of 3,462 deaths as of March 6.
On Friday, 21 passengers on the Grand Princess cruise off the coast of California were diagnosed with the virus. This was revealed just two weeks after a passenger on the same ship died from the virus in California.
The presence of COVID-19 has also halted some activities at school. Kennedy was scheduled to have two weeks of Chinese foreign exchange students visiting campus again, but because of the virus, the district was forced to pause the program for these students.
“While we had multiple precautions in place to ensure the well-being of all involved and families from China had invested much in this trip for their children, we felt canceling these trips from China was the right thing to do for our community,” Principal Adam Hernandez said in an email sent out to AUHSD members.
Some students around campus feel that the virus is a concern, but not a pressing issue. Even though not a lot is known about the virus, some students feel that it is not a need to worry.
“I am not worried about being affected because just like with other viral infections, I have been made aware of the signs and will definitely report any of them if they occur to me,” senior Heidi Avalos said. “I feel that to some extent students are nervous but… our chances of actually attracting the virus is relatively low.”
Students can protect themselves against it by keeping good hygiene, washing their hands frequently, and covering one’s mouth when coughing or sneezing.
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