For the past three months, COVID-19, known as coronavirus, has swept the world. It has dominated the news, sent markets plummeting, brought international travel to a halt, and wrapped the world in panic and paranoia. In order to halt its spread, China and Italy carried out the largest quarantines in history. Schools have been shut down around the world. This virus is three times more contagious than the flu and is much more lethal.
Right now, people are going crazy over hand sanitizer, hand washing and stockpiling on foods and other important goods.
But what about the actual virus itself? Should people be personally scared about getting infected with it? Should we go on a shopping spree and stock up on a month worth of toilet paper? And should we avoid all contact with everyone and wear face masks? The answer to all of those questions is no.
Most people are freaking out about this because they are simply ignorant about it. All they hear is how people are being sent to the hospitals and dying, and how it is spreading rapidly. This is true, but has anybody actually done the math?
No, not at all. Let’s do the math. There are currently 7.7 billion people on the Earth. As of March 9, 2020, there have been a little more than 113,000 confirmed cases. This is 0.0001467 percent of the world population. At this rate, for there to be 1 million cases, it would probably take a year. Compared to the pandemic of 1918 (Spanish Flu), which infected around 500 million people in a world of 1.8 billion, and killed from 17 to 50 million, the coronavirus outbreak is insignificant.
This is indeed a pandemic, but that does not mean that most people are going to get it. It simply means that the disease has spread to many countries across the world and everyone is at risk of infection, but being at risk does not mean likely to get infected. We should reduce public gatherings, travel, and contact with other people. Also, people need to stay home when they are sick, and we should frequently wash our hands with soap and water.
It is completely possible for the coronavirus outbreak to get completely out of control. But what we should fear most about this pandemic is not the virus itself but the panic that it has caused. This virus most likely will cause a global recession, but the panic will only make it worse. This virus will only infect a few people relative to the entire population, but a recession will affect everyone. Let’s take safety precautions to stop the spread of this virus, but let’s not lose our sanity. The coronavirus is bad, but the panic it has created might be worse.
Article by Justin LaFontaine of Walter Johnson High School
Photo by Shevani Tewari of Richard Montgomery High School