The coronavirus has gotten more serious over these past few weeks, and the future of this virus could be very scary.
According to Telegraph, the coronavirus started in a “‘wet market’ in Wuhan which sold both dead and live animals including fish and birds.” Since then, the virus has traveled to 166 countries and territories.
Currently, the state of Indiana is in a stay-at-home order till April 7th to slow the spreading of the virus. This means nonessential travel and business is shut down.
Indiana schools are also closed until May 1st. This date could be pushed back even further but we won’t fully know until closer to May 1st.
Tonya Aerts, PLTW biomedical science teacher, said that predicting whether or not schools will be closed longer than May 1st is hard but she hopes it's not longer.
“I think our students and staff have done an amazing job adapting to this unique situation. It's difficult, unusual, and not ideal, but everyone is doing the best they can do,” Aerts said.
With all of this going on, people are worrying about the future of the coronavirus; if it will get worse, get better, spread more, spread less, etc.
“CDC expects that widespread transmission of COVID-19 in the United States will occur. In the coming months, most of the U.S. population will be exposed to this virus,” according the CDC website.
Aerts thinks the coronavirus will continue to worsen as long as people do not take social distancing seriously.
“If you do not live with someone, you shouldn't be visiting with them. No one is special and is immune to this virus, so if you are not worried about yourself getting ill, at least be concerned about spreading it to other people. It's hard, I get that, but staying
home is critical right now,” she said.
Dr. Gregory C. Gray, professor at Duke University, said, “this virus is a bullet train without the constraint of train tracks. It is moving very fast in many directions at the same time. We may slow it down periodically but I think it will soon be virtually everywhere.”
Aerts said that this virus won’t stop spreading until it is eradicated, which won’t happen anytime soon, but hopefully it will stop spreading at such an alarming rate.
“People will always become ill from the virus, just like the flu, but the goal is that the spread and severity can become under control,” she said.
“A vaccine may help but I doubt that it will end the epidemic. It will be months to 1 to 2 years before it is available and in widespread use, I think,” predicts Dr. Stanley Perlman, a professor at the University of Iowa.
Aerts also said that this strain of the coronavirus appears to have a higher attack rate and it will take time to develop an effective and safe vaccine.
“Until then we are at its mercy and should continue to practice better sanitation of public areas. Like other illnesses that are passed on between people, sharing food and drinks and not frequently washing your hands are strong contributors to the life of the disease,” she said.
A way we could predict how the coronavirus will advance is looking at how it’s affecting Italy. The coronavirus has been there longer than in the United States.
According to Aljazeera at the time of publication, “More than 10,000 people have died since the start of the coronavirus pandemic” in Italy. The country has the highest death toll in the world. Deaths in the US are about 1,700.
CNN stated that a Milan resident was pulled over by police for her passenger sitting in the front. That is just one tight restriction that Italy has to follow.
Italy has the “second-highest number of confirmed cases in the world after the United States, which stands at 105,470,” according to CNN at publication.
China has around 81,000 confirmed cases of the virus but only 3,299 deaths compared to Italy's death toll, also at publication.
Our future restrictions might become the same as Italy’s right now. According to AP News, some include, “banning any outdoor exercise not on personal property and set distance limits on dog-walking.”
The maximum radius for dog walking is 200 meters. Lombardy raised fines for violators to 5,000 euros ($5,345).
“The government on Feb. 22 created the first red zones in the 11 Lombardy towns and the town of Vo’ Eugeneo near Padova, with soldiers setting up cordons around the area and residents permitted to leave their homes only for essential activities like shopping,” states AP News.
Aerts said that restrictions will change if citizens do not abide by the limitations that are currently set.
“If many people are going to the park, then the park will close. If the grocery stores are packed, then they will place restrictions there. We have to change if we want to return to 'normal',” Aerts said.
Aerts said we should be staying home, be washing our hands all the time, be aware of all the stuff we touch everyday, and stay away from people when feeling sick.
“We are lucky to live in a time where we can still communicate via texting and FaceTime as opposed to having to sit down and write a letter. Wouldn't that be weird? Challenge- write a letter to someone. It's always fun to get something in the mail (that isn't a bill!),” she said.
Aerts thinks it will be interesting to see how we all come out of this.
“Time will tell but I hope we all come out grateful for the opportunities we have and the people we surround ourselves with. I really hope for that,” she said.