#200, nCoV
On December 31, 2019, Chinese authorities informed the World Health Organization (WHO) of a mysterious disease. Its cause was unknown, but it was linked to a seafood market in Wuhan City in the Hubei Province. One week later, the disease was identified as a novel coronavirus (nCoV). Coronaviruses vary in nature from common colds to fatal illnesses and are typically found in animals, but some can infect humans.
Since then, nCoV has spread throughout China and the world.
Coronavirus Cases 2020
Some important facts about how nCoV spreads from the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control:
Receptors for 2019-nCoV are deep in a person’s lungs – a person must inhale enough of the virus that it can actually bind to those receptors deep in the lungs.
2019-nCoV is transmitted via larger droplets that fall quickly out of the air (for example, after a sneeze). This virus is not airborne.
2019-nCoV is not something that people can get from casual contact. A person must be in close contact (within 2 meters) with somebody to be able to inhale those droplets if a person coughs or sneezes without cover, in front of them.
The droplets can fall to the ground after a sneeze and a person can touch them with their hands. The risk of transmission is low in this case, as those droplets must be of significant enough quantity to make it to the receptors in a person’s lungs.
If a person has touched something that has droplets on it with 2019-nCoV in it, as long as they clean their hands before touching their face or your mouth, they are not at risk of getting that virus in their body.
2019-nCoV is not something that comes in through the skin. This virus is remitted through large droplets that are breathed deep into a person’s lungs.
Regarding wearing masks – masks should be used by sick people to prevent transmission to other people. A mask will help keep a person’s droplets in.
The most important thing that a person can do to prevent themselves from getting 2019-nCoV is to wash their hands regularly and avoid touching their face.
The first reported case in South Korea was on January 20 and the total stands at 23 as of February 6. There have not been any nCoV-related deaths in Korea. Still, it has shaken the Korean peninsula and had a significant impact on our lives. Masks have become a permanent accessory in public and even indoors as well. Schools and universities have delayed the start of the school year. Korean Air and other airlines have cut flights to China and travelers who have been to the Hubei Province within the past two weeks are temporarily banned from entering the country.
In a country with a population of more than 51 million, just 0.0000004 percent of the population has been infected with nCoV, yet, we all feel its presence.
To complete this Journal response, address the following:
(a) Do you feel South Korea is doing enough to address the nCoV issue? (b) How has nCoV affected you personally?
Former students are invited to comment, too!
Comment on a peer’s response.
-Brenden Lee Teacher