The coronavirus has been spreading quickly across the world and closely becoming a worldwide pandemic. Because of the virus, extreme conditions were made so that it would not spread further into other countries, especially those not yet affected. Firstly, what is the coronavirus? The coronavirus appeared in Wuhan, China recently and is said to have originated from bats, however, not many are sure of its origin.  The virus spreads from person to person, around 6ft of contact within an infected person. When someone with the virus coughs or sneezes, they release mucus and saliva which can be inhaled or make contact with your face. The virus’ symptoms are very similar to a common cold.  People who are infected may have a sore throat, a cough, shortness of breath, etc., however, this virus has taken 560 lives and hospitalized around 14,000 people to date.  The coronavirus is still a mystery to many today and in the chaos, scientists from different countries are scrambling to find a vaccine for this particular virus. The Chinese government built a hospital to treat and quarantine the virus and built it in 10 days.  Australia even recreated the virus to study it and try to find a vaccine to it, while the scientists of Hong Kong are said to have already created a vaccine but will only know for sure after testing it for a bit, which they stated would take a couple of months. Many countries, such as the UK have already cut off all0 flights to and from China since cases of the virus outside of China have been reported: Eight in Taiwan, six in Japan, one in Germany, 11 in the U.S., etc. so far with the first death outside of China reported in the Philippines.   

People are saying different things about the virus, from credible news sources to kids making memes about it, to people building conspiracy theories as to why the coronavirus is here.

But you can’t just trust anyone posting on media about this virus.

The famous family show, the Simpsons, that is known for predicting the future, such as Donald Trump being president, Disney buying Fox, smartwatches, etc. and fans speculate that it had predicted the coronavirus. Fans post online showing the famous news reporter Kent Brockman talking about the “Corona Virus”. The scene also shows characters sneezing and Homer, as well as other characters, end up getting affected by this virus. Although there are similarities, though, in Season 4, Episode 21 called “Marge in Chains,” the Simpsons had a different scenario and instead of a virus that began in China, it originated in Japan and spreads in Springfield after it traveled to America inside boxes of product manufactured in Japan. 

According to “Advocate” news source, a Trump-approved preacher says that the coronavirus is here to wipe out certain populations. Furthermore, the preacher believes that the reason the virus is starting in China is because of their “corrupt sinful communist government.” The preacher thinks that the virus is coming to destroy people because they are fighting the word of God. 

The virus has caused panic and stir throughout the whole world and many have different opinions about it. Because of this, theories were created about this virus, which were interesting.  Some people relate this virus with ebola that occurred in Africa. They state, “How come viruses and diseases occur only in poor places?” They then go on to say that “everything in the world happens because of greed, money, power, and politics.” This is interesting because the person never goes on to state nor have the understanding that poor places and countries are more prone to diseases because of the living conditions. The point this person made, though, was a different view. 

Whatever you believe, there’s no doubt this is a serious virus that could be extremely bad. However, should it be the highest concern? Coronavirus has taken 560 lives, whereas in approximately the same amount of time, the flu has wiped out around 10,000 people during the flu season. We aren’t as worried about the flu because we have flu shots and flu mists and ways to try and counteract the flu, but we don’t necessarily have that with the coronavirus. We don’t know how many people are going to die of the virus, but it is, in scope, not comparable to the flu. If there are more deaths of the flu even with the medical care in most areas, many more people have died of the flu than coronavirus, however, we’ll continue to keep up with information with the coronavirus to make sure that everything will be okay. 

Overall, the coronavirus is very serious and more cases are occurring in the United States so it is important to continue to read up on any updates about it and if there are going to be more reported cases in the United States. Hopefully, it does not become a worldwide pandemic.  

References 

“Coronavirus: Australian scientists first to recreate virus outside China.” BBC News, 28 Jan. 2020, www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-51289897?ocid=socialflow_twitter.  

“Corona virus”. CNN, www.cnn.com/asia/live-news/coronavirus-outbreak-02-05-20-intl-hnk/index.html. 

Dahan, Deborah. “Did The Simpsons predict the coronavirus outbreak?” The Jerusalem Post – Israel News, 3 Feb. 2020, www.jpost.com/OMG/Did-The-Simpsons-predict-the-coronavirus-outbreak-616293.  

Gilbert, David. “Scientists Have Already Developed a Coronavirus Vaccine.” Vice, 29 Jan. 2020, www.vice.com/en_us/article/y3mw37/scientists-have-already-developed-a-coronavirus-vaccine.  

“God Sent Coronavirus to Destroy LGBTQ People,” Says Trump-OK’d Preacher. Advocate New Source, www.advocate.com/religion/2020/1/29/god-sent-coronavirus-destroy-lgbtq-people-says-trump-okd-preacher.  

Griffiths, James. “Number of Wuhan coronavirus cases inside mainland China overtakes SARS, as virus spreads worldwide.” CNN World, www.cnn.com/2020/01/28/asia/wuhan-coronavirus-update-jan-29-intl-hnk. Accessed 29 Jan. 2020. 

“Hong Kong Reports First Death From Coronavirus Outbreak”. New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2020/02/03/world/asia/coronavirus-china.html. 

McLaughlin, Elliot C., and Faith Karimi. “Americans evacuated from China amid the coronavirus outbreak will be monitored for days.” CNN Health, edition.cnn.com/2020/01/29/health/us-coronavirus-evacuation-wednesday/. Accessed 30 Jan. 2020. 

Smith, Chris. “Coronavirus has now been confirmed in people who haven’t been to China.” BGR, 28 Jan. 2020, bgr.com/2020/01/28/coronavirus-infection-confirmed-in-patients-who-havent-been-to-china/.   

“Wuhan Rounds Up the Infected as Death Toll in China Jumps.” www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/world/asia/coronavirus-china.html.