(NOTE: Before COVID-19 was a pandemic, it was a pandemic at the time. The pandemic article will be published later. Please be patient)
The Coronavirus went on to be a Novel Coronavirus (or COVID-19). With the virus widespread in over 100 countries, it even led to over 4,000 deaths and caused 120,000 cases. In the United States, Washington recorded 8 deaths in the state, all linked to Coronavirus. In Kirkland County, 50 people were hospitalized at the EvergreenHealth Medical Center, while living in the nursing center called the Life Care Center of Kirkland. One of the fatalities came from a man in his 70s. Extraordinary precaution took place, as one of the unnamed woman mentioned that her mother and aunt do work at that nursing home. She worries that her entire family would be infected by the disease. She also mentioned that despite taking on many forethoughts, anybody could be a victim of Coronavirus, and not be aware of it. 24 doctors were being monetized for the Coronavirus. Washington, Oregon, California, Illinois, New York, Rhode Island, and Florida were some of the first states to report infections. The Director of the Rhode Island Department of Health, Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, said that it was not a widespread transmission. 5 states California, Oregon, Idaho. Washington, and Rhode Island, had to shut school doors due to COVID-19. In Washington, emergency crews were at the Life Care Center non-stop, to get patients to hospitals (after contracting COVID-19, with some in critical condition.) 26 firefighters had to be laid off, as some of them were caught with flu-like symptoms. Kirkland Fire chief, Joe Sanford, mentioned that COVID-19 impacted the community. Later, a public building in Seattle was closed. Even Governor Jay Inslee (D-WA), urged their residents to not go out into the public crowds and should prepare to see several events canceled, to slow the spread of the virus.
The outbreak even became a panic for shoppers, who had no choice but to stock up n the important necessities, including toilet paper, water bottles, and hand sanitizer (with 60% alcohol.) Regardless, Purell, Lysol, and Clorox were doing their hardest to increase the production of sanitizers & disinfectants.
In Boston, Massachusetts, a dire emergency occurred during a conference at a hotel, causing 3 people to be tested positive for the Coronavirus. In North Carolina, one of the patients that contracted the virus was at the Kirkland nursing center, which caused the state’s first COVID-19 case.
New York City had 44 people suffering from the outbreak last week after a lawyer (who has COVID-19) from Westchester County went on a Subway to Grand Central Terminal, and left his family, and one of his doctors sick with the Coronavirus, too. That left 4,000 to be self quarantined. But before that, the first Coronavirus case in New York City came from a woman in her 30s from Manhattan who returned from Iran and was tested positive for that disease. She was a healthcare worker. She was isolated in her apartment and did not need medical care. She was aware of the necessary steps to survive the Coronavirus and test. In an interview with CBS This Morning, Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) mentioned that the state should not be surprised about the outbreak, despite being dubbed as a gateway to the World. When asked how affected the testing, he believed that the situation was more about the detection before the isolation, as well as the mobilization of the healthcare system. He also urges people to not be anxious about the outbreak and had a little outlook on the disease. He also compared the Coronavirus to the 2014 Ebola crisis. He also mentioned Last Friday, he described the Coronavirus as the flu on steroids. Another patient, a male lawyer in his 50s, was potentially exposed to the virus, as he was working in New York City (while living in Westchester.) His family and co-workers were quarantined at home. His children’s schools were closed, to clean his kids. New York City Mayor, Bill de Blasio, mentioned that the COVID-19 crisis would last for months.
In California, another Diamond Princess Cruise was not immune to the Coronavirus. 21 people (2 passengers and 19 crew members) tested positive for COVID-19. This was the 2nd outbreak for Princess Cruise Lines, after 55 passengers in Japan were diagnosed with the Coronavirus on a cruise to Japan.
Governor Ron Desantis (R-FL), spoke about the proper precautions on entering facilities, as shoppers rushed to get supplies, including hand sanitizers, masks, bottled water, and paper towels, causing a shortage on the items. The NCPA asked for a discussion on having basketball competitions without an audience. However, March Madness was canceled for the 1st time. In Miami, schools were aware of the outbreak, by providing 250,000 laptops and tablets for their students.
In Colorado, one thief stole protective N95 masks, meant for the doctors, nurses, and patients, at the National Jewish Health at Saint Joesph Hospital. Because of the theft, the hospitals had to protect the supply, due to the low supply. Infectious Disease Specialist, Dr. Shannon Kasperbauer, mentioned that the doctors have rhetorically asked the public to stop buying the masks in bulk. The masks were meant to prevent COVID-19. However, it is not effective for a protective measure.
In Texas, one of the malls had to be closed for cleaning, as one person was tested positive for COVID-19.
CBS News Health Correspondent, Dr. Tara Narula, broke down the signs of the Coronavirus. The Coronavirus can be transmittable person-to-person, by droplets from coughing or sneezing. It can travel up to 6 feet and may infect a surface or your face (if touched.) Symptoms of the Coronavirus (or COVID-19) include shortness of breath or fever. To avoid the flu, people should take precaution, and not panic. Because there is no vaccine yet, the virus may be treated with supportive care. Otherwise, it could impact the respiratory system and the lungs, and if not in check, the lungs would drown, causing pneumonia, a major drop of blood pressure, and organ failure.
The CDC discovered that contamination in the CDC lab in Atlanta led to shortages of test kits. The FDA specified that the developed testing kits were able to pass procedures. 75,000 people would be able to get Coronavirus testing, according to HHS. State and private laboratories would be able to create a diagnostic kit after restrictions were lifted.
According to the Director of the Harvard Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics, Marc Lipsitch, he projects that 40%-70% of US adults may be impacted by the Coronavirus. He also warned that COVID-19 would quickly develop, with people getting the virus, before knowing they were infected. Lipsitch said should the virus be widespread, millions of Americans would risk their lives. Although, he does not see COVID-19 as an extragenital threat.
Hospitals and health experts had to take significant caution on the disease. Dr. Fauci mentioned that the US (and the World) would have to make ultimate sacrifices, as he believes that the spread of the virus would be coming in pandemic proportions. According to him, COVID-19 is rapidly spreading, due to people sneezing and coughing in hands, instead of the elbow, and coming into human contact. He urged people to wash hands as much as possible, and stay out of crowded events. He also believed that closing schools temporarily, canceling events and unimportant travel with huge crowd space, and telecommuting would be possible, to avoid the spread of the Coronavirus. He mentioned that those steps are temporary but necessary. Local health authorities would have to make that call.
With COVID-19 rapidly spreading, the patterns for shopping and traveling changed. For example, as fears of the Coronavirus was up, so was the panic shopping. This is shoppers were supplying on essentials for bottled water, hand sanitizers, and toilet paper. The US Department of Homeland Security, suggests that people get as much as 2 weeks’ worth of food. Because of the anxiety of COVID-19, some supplies were not of stock. Even online shopping isn’t off the hook either. Instacart and Amazon struggled to keep up with demand. Even a spokesperson for Amazon said that the company could not determine why demand was so high. Even hand sanitizers were on hand during Super Tuesday voting. Shaking hands were cut back during that critical time.
The World Health Organization gave an alarming announcement, that the cases of Coronavirus rapidly grew, making it twice as deadly as previous estimates. The mortality rates even increased, from 2.0% to 3.4%. WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom, spoke in a press conference that no one is immune from COVID-19, despite Dr. Fauci’s comments that 80% of people would recover faster from the virus when they are healthy. When it came to children, only 3% of the kids would be caught with the virus. Also, children would recover quicker, when their immune systems fight against colds. Even if they are not sick, they may spread the virus and must learn good hygiene to avoid the increasing spread of COVID-19.
Around to globe, Italy continued to feel the pain of the Coronavirus, losing 49 people in 1 day The number of cases rose to 50%, and at 1,700 cases (at that time). Schools and universities there were closed on March 4th, forcing students to learn remotely from their homes. The Italian Government even warned residents regarding, “suspension of events of any nature…that entail the concentration of people and do not allow for a safety distance of at least one meter to be respected” (translated as sospensione di eventi di qualsiasi natura … che comportano la concentrazione di persone e non-consentono di rispettare una distanza di Sicurezza di almeno un metro) (BBC World News Outside Source) But several of the Italian civilians have called out their government for slowly responding the crisis. However, others did praise their government for taking the guidelines needed to slow the virus. Lombardy, Bergamo, and Veneto were some of the cities where 8 Chinese restaurant workers were from. They’ve traveled back to Wenzhou, China, where they were all tested positive for COVID-19. They’ve all worked at that same restaurant in Italy. 6 of them went from Moscow, Russia, to Shanghai, before returning to their home town. The Chinese authorities worried in regard to how the virus was contracted. 100,000 workers in Wenzhou, China worked in Italy, which would be considered evidence of why Italy had their COVID-19 cases spiked. The United Kingdom and Iran saw Coronavirus deaths surging. Even those popular tourist attractions like the Venice canals, the Coliseum, and the Louvre were becoming ghost towns, due to the Coronavirus.
When it came to travel, United Airlines’ CEO, Oscar Munoz, had to suspend trips to mainland China, Korea, Iran, Europe, and some US cities. Delta and American Airlines canceled all trips to Milan, Italy, due to 2 regions of Northern Italy at travel advisory Level 4, until late April. Because of Coronovirus concerns, searches on trips to Italy went down by 13%. Travel to Asia was down by 75% Iran’s death toll from the Coronavirus (at that time) was 66, from the 1,501 confirmed cases. During the speech, Pope Francis had to cough during his speech, as the Vatican mentioned that he just had a bad cold. Pope Francis, who canceled events because of a cold, was tested negative for the Coronavirus. In France, the marathon went on, despite a ban of large gatherings of 5,000 people. Daegu, South Korea has 4,300 people come down with COVID-19. COVID-19 would affect travel, suspending business travels, decreasing bookings, take paid leave, and assessment screening in 11 airports. If they are shown that they are diagnosed with the Coronavirus, they would have to be hospitalized before heading home. Foreign nationals wouldn’t be allowed to enter the US if they’ve traveled to Iran or Italy in 2 weeks. The EU raised US travel to Level 4, saying the risks were leveled from moderate to high. United, Delta, and American Airlines suspended cancellation fees, for countries that were high-risked. Even the US Travel Association predicted that there would be a 6% decrease in travelers in the US.
In Tel Aviv, Israel, the nation issued a quarantine order on all travelers arriving from Spain, France, Switzerland, Austria, and Germany just to name a few. It banned tourists from traveling to Italy.
ABC News’ “20/20” had a special report in regards to the Coronavirus, which can be viewed here.
If you want to help people impacted by the Coronavirus, you can log on to redcross.org or cdcfoundation.org
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Newstime with Sophia Melki 