by Andrew Doran
Written on February 28, 2020
The beginning of the new decade has been plagued with a new super virus, COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus. With over 84,000 cases reported as of Feb. 28, this fast-spreading virus is causing panic among citizens and government officials.
According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this new virus is believed to have started in Wuhan City, China, a city just over 500 miles west of Shanghai, China. It started to spread during the month of December, but due to China’s strict policy on secrecy, the disease did not make waves on an international level until the middle of January.
The primary cause of infection is human-to-human transmission, which generally occurs from infected individuals when they sneeze, cough or exhale. The virus has an incubation period of generally between two and 14 days, with a mean of three days, although cases have been reported with as long as 24 days of incubation.
The coronavirus has caused concern among world leaders due to its ease of being passed from person to person as well as there currently being no cure for the disease. If someone comes down with the virus, it will feel like a massive cold with flu-like symptoms. But, according to the CDC, the coronavirus can be deadly because it can get into people’s major organs and shut them down. While only approximately 3.4% of people are dying from the coronavirus, it is still a massive issue that is making leaders question their next steps.
There have been confirmed cases of the coronavirus in California, however none have been confirmed in Ventura County. If there was a confirmed case in Ventura County, Michael Gravagne, CI’s Director of Campus Recreation and Student Wellness, writes that CI would notify students right away. “CSUCI has comprehensive planning in place specifically for communicable diseases that have concise protocols in accordance with the CDC and Public Health that would go into effect when applicable.”
According to Gravagne, CI will be continuously monitoring the virus and the wellbeing of the community. “In Ventura County, as in counties across the US, the threat to the general public for contracting the coronavirus remains low, but common-sense precautions should be followed to prevent the spread of all infectious diseases,” wrote Gravagne.
These common-sense precautions include always washing your hands with soap and water, avoiding touching your face with unwashed hands, avoiding hanging out with people who are sick and, if you do become sick, staying home in order to stop spreading the illness around.
