Gabrielle Chenault | Staff Writer
The coronavirus disease has sent many people worldwide into a frenzy because it is continuing to spread outside of China, and the death toll continues to rise. Cases have been reported in Asia, Europe, Australia, North America and Africa as of Feb. 19.
“It’s scary to see how quickly this is spreading, especially since there is no current cure,” said Hampton University student Ra’ana Middleton, a sophomore nursing student.
This virus is spread through the respiratory system and mimics the symptoms of a cold. Due to this, it is easily spread and can be spread among a lot of people at one time. According to a CNN report, “more than 68,500 people have been infected and at least 1,669 have died worldwide.”
As the virus spreads, President Donald Trump has taken precautions in an attempt to limit the cases of the virus in the United States. A temporary travel ban has been set in place for foreign nationals from entering the United States if they visited China in the 14 days prior to them flying into the United States.
The World Health Organization (WHO) officially entered the Coronavirus or COVID-19 into their database Feb. 11. In a New York Times article, the World Health Organization called it “public health emergency of international concern.”
While there has been a variety of news alerts on social media about this virus, there have also been racist and untrue reports on popular apps such as Twitter and Instagram.
“I get that in our society people love to joke about everything, but certain memes took it a bit too far,” said HU student George Mitchell, a sophmore political science major. “I saw that someone on Twitter made a meme where all the Disney princess had facemasks except Mulan, and the caption was something about how you can’t trust her. It was just unnecessary.”
As this deadly virus spreads, there are measures you can take to protect yourself. The first is to educate yourself on the virus. There are many falsified reports on social media, so be sure to read reports from an accredited news source or from organizations such as the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
Sadly, due to their being no cure, this virus will continue to spread, but there are steps that can be taken to help yourself and those around you stay healthy.
The easiest way to prevent yourself from getting this virus is by using proper hygiene techniques and eating a balanced diet. Washing your hands, eating healthy and staying hydrated are ways that you can stop yourself from catching this illness. Gabrielle Johnson, a freshman kinesiology student, summed it up best.
“The only way to not catch the virus is to make sure you’re following the CDC’s regulations,” Johnson said. “But we must also not make fun of those who are sick because they and their families are going through a hard time.”
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