Coronavirus spreads across the world

The 2019 Novel Coronavirus infection (2019-nCoV) is said to have broken out between Dec. 12 and 29 of last year, and it has now officially killed more people than the SARS outbreak of 2002. There are now 42,760 confirmed cases across 28 countries, and 1,013 people have died from the disease. 

Twelve people have reportedly been infected in the U.S. and, for safety precautions enforced by the Centers for Disease Control, are currently quarantined.

The virus’s effects can be felt in Montgomery County. Rockville cancelled its Lunar New Year celebration due to fear of the outbreak, and MCPS sent out a notice to all students and parents, warning them of the virus.

Analyzing 17,000 cases, World Health Organization epidemiologist Maria van Kerkhove and her team found that 86 percent of the coronavirus cases were mild, 15 percent severe and only 3 percent critical. With the death rate standing at less than 2 percent, it is far less than the fatality 9.6 percent rate of SARS despite being more widespread.

Originating in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the source of the coronavirus is allegedly a seafood market that sold various exotic animals, which has been closed since Jan. 1. Researchers suspect that the novel coronavirus originated from an animal source; bats and snakes are the top suspects. 

The 2019 Novel Coronavirus is from the same family of viruses as the common cold. Common human coronaviruses cause mild to moderate upper-respiratory tract illnesses and sometimes lower-respiratory tract illnesses such as pneumonia or bronchitis. These illnesses only last for a short amount of time, with symptoms including runny nose, headache, cough, sore throat, fever and a feeling of being unwell. 

Similar to the common coronaviruses, symptoms of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus include fever, flu-like symptoms like coughing, sore throat and headaches and difficulty breathing in some cases.

Coronaviruses are extremely common in animals like pigs, bats and dogs, which are referred to as common hosts. It is still unknown how the virus mutates and transfers to humans. Between humans, the virus can spread through droplets from coughing or sneezing as well as when a person touches something that is contaminated with the infectious droplets and touches their face in the process. “Super spreaders” are then able to catch and spread the disease to others.

Due to the fast spread of the virus, Beijing authorities have made it punishable by death to lie about being in contact with someone infected by the virus. China enacted a quarantine spanning 13 cities, and more than 160 people are quarantined as an effort by Hong Kong to stop the fast-spreading virus. Violation of the quarantine would result in imprisonment of six months. 

There are no treatments approved for the illness, although researchers in the U.S. and China have started to work on a vaccine; however, pharmaceutical experts have warned that it could be years in the making. For now, quarantine is the only option, and China built a second hospital in 10 days exclusively to treat patients with the virus.

There have been medical advances made with antiviral medicine, Remdesivir, from Gilead, an American pharmaceutical giant. Although it is an experimental drug, research with infected mice and monkeys has the support that Remdesivir is effective against the coronavirus.

In the U.S., doctors in Washington State have tested the antiviral medicine on the first infected patient of the coronavirus in the U.S. Before administering the treatment, his symptoms were worsening, and he had developed pneumonia, but his symptoms improved the day after doctors administered the medication. Although this one case does not provide conclusive evidence that the medication is working, it did spark excitement in the medical world.

This also gives hope to students like Kingsview middle school eighth grader Ovini Wijesundera. “Science has progressed a lot, and so, it will be a short period until we find a cure. The coronavirus may have already spread quite a bit, but I believe that we can stop more people from dying by learning from this disease,” Wijesundera said.

 Likewise, Richard Montgomery high school sophomore Gavin Gibson believes that it is time for there to be a cure for this infection. “Science will save us,” Gibson said.

Article by Sarasi Gunasekara of Richard Montgomery High School

Graphic by Nicole Fang of Richard Montgomery High School