Response Post: Coronavirus is Sickening

Hi all! As you know from my last blog post, I recently traveled to China to celebrate Lunar New Years! Unfortunately, the recent outbreak of Coronavirus in China cut my trip a bit short. I read a blog post called “Coronavirus is Sickening” by Twig and it gave me some insight towards what the virus exactly is and the severity of it. While I was there, I could tell there is widespread fear and stress that is directly impacting daily life. Everyone is wearing face masks, staying inside, and being extra diligent in practicing good hygiene. Like Twig said in their blog, it also doesn’t help that it’s Lunar New Years which is a period of intense traveling and direct contact. It’s also evident that there is a lack of doctors and nurses for the amount of people who are potentially infected. I’ve seen this personally when I see huge crowds of people trying to get treated at hospitals. Twig brings up a good point that these doctors don’t have any time to eat or sleep due to the large influx of people infected. As a result, doctors may simply be just too tired to give quality treatment. Of course, I am not blaming these doctors at all and I applaud them for their determination to help as many people as possible. Instead, I am making an observation of the lack of resources for a situation this serious and I hope that there will be foreign assistance. Twig also points out that many people are turning on each other and blaming one another for the spread of the virus. For example, people are blaming the doctors and calling them incompetent while people online are being blatantly racist against Chinese people. It seems the increasing fear of a pandemic is causing people to act irrationally and talk without thinking. It’s understandable to be scared about this situation but we have to do our best to place trust in the experts! Also, I’ve noticed a lot of conflicting information about the severity of the virus. Is it something fatal on contact or just a glorified common cold? The deaths seem to be people who have weak immune systems, respiratory systems, or are older. If that’s the case, people should start practicing better hygiene! This means that we should wash our hands frequently, cover our mouths when we cough or sneeze, and limiting contact with others if we feel ill. Just taking good care of your own body will be a good start to easing fear regarding Coronavirus. I expect to see a higher frequency of news about confirmed cases in more and more countries within the next few weeks. It’s easy to get scared about this news but it’s important to keep a level head and trust healthcare officials! Modern technology and medicine is extremely sophisticated and advanced today that I believe this situation will settle down in a few months. Still, we should do our best to ensure that the virus doesn’t spread. The important lessons I learned is to limit contact if we feel sick and to seek help immediately if we feel symptoms!