A Brief Overview of the Coronavirus
by Caroline Jung
What is it?
Coronaviruses are not new. There have been other types of coronaviruses, but this recent one, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), originated from Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. It is most similar to other respiratory illnesses like colds or fevers. Some symptoms include fevers, coughing, and shortness of breath, and it is thought to be spread through close human contact and is most contagious when people are the sickest. There is no vaccine yet, but the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is working to manufacture testing kits. The CDC, along with the World Health Organization (WHO), has diligently been working to combat the disease and update the public on the outbreak on their websites.
Note: this is a very brief summary, but more specific information can be found on the CDC’s and WHO’s website.
General Timeline
2019
Dec 31: The first case of the coronavirus was reported in China.
Jan 2020
Jan 21: The first infection of COVID-19 in the US was reported.
Jan 30:
WHO declared the outbreak as a “public health emergency of international concern”
The New England Journal of Medicine published an asymptomatic case in Germany outside of Asia. An asymptomatic disease means that the virus can be spread from a person who may have been infected but shows no symptoms. This development is crucial in categorizing how the coronavirus is spread and what other precautions can be taken.
The first person-to-person infection of COVID-19 in the US was reported
Jan 31: President Trump signed the “Proclamation on Suspension of Entry as Immigrants and Nonimmigrants of Persons who Pose a Risk of Transmitting 2019 Novel Coronavirus” which suspended foreign nationals, or an unnaturalized resident of the US, entry to the US if they had visited China the last 14 days. It also included monitoring the health of those who were allowed to enter (US citizens) who visited China within 14 days.
Feb 2020
Feb 2: Previously mentioned Proclamation was taken into effect.
Feb 4: Diamond Princess cruise ship was docked at Japan’s port city of Yokohama with passengers unable to leave as coronavirus spread within. There have been shortages of testing supplies, and passengers are only able to leave the ship to go to the hospital if they’ve tested positive for the coronavirus. Currently still, non infected passengers have been quarantined, raising questions whether this measure is effective. Some Americans have been able to fly back to the US, but are needed to go through the quarantine process.
Feb 11: WHO named the disease as coronavirus disease 2019 (abbreviated “COVID-19”).
As of February 16, there have been more than 69,000 cases and over 1,600 deaths.
Other Consequences from the Coronavirus
As fear of the coronavirus has spread, xenophobia towards Chinese and other Asians have also spread. Since the origin was from China and most cases have been concentrated in China, it is no question why this is so, but it cannot be stressed enough about how these assumptions can be very damaging. In the US, the likelihood of an Asian passing along the coronavirus is the same as any other resident of the country. It shouldn’t have an effect on how Asians are being treated in their everyday lives.
General Quick Links
As information about the coronavirus is constantly changing, make sure to keep up with new developments! The best resource for other updates on the coronavirus is the CDC’s and WHO’s websites. Please continue to browse them as other news pops up.
Updated statistics: https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6
Cases in the US: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-in-us.html
Cases globally:https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/locations-confirmed-cases.html
New York Times’ Coverage: https://www.nytimes.com/news-event/coronavirus
New York Times’ Live Coverage: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/16/world/asia/china-coronavirus.html?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=styln-coronavirus&variant=show®ion=TOP_BANNER&context=storyline_menu