On December 31st, 2019, a few cases of Pneumonia were discovered in WuHan, China. The cases were determined to originate from a new virus named SARS-CoV-2, namely COVID-19, and also known as the coronavirus.

The virus was discovered to have up to a 2 week incubation period, and those who were infected were still spreading the virus to others before they showed symptoms. This led to its infection rate being extremely high, where 2-2.5 people are infected per 1 person infected.

The disease displayed pneumonia like symptoms, with coughing, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing along with flu symptoms. Because of this, the elderly and those with breathing complications are the highest at risk with the virus, with many of the first cases being those of these groups.

Currently, no specific treatments are out to deal with COVID-19. Therefore, the best measures we can take are those of prevention. The virus has about a 2 week recovery time, and 3-6 week for critical cases.

Ever since the pandemic has gone world wide, social distancing orders have been put in place, schools have shut down, and work places have closed down. When needing to go out, wearing masks is mandatory to prevent the possible infection from you to spread to others to protect ourselves as a society. Keeping a safe distance from your friends and those you live with is also good for preventing the virus from spreading even more.

The current model for COVID-19 is still undetermined, but new vaccines, medicines, and cures are being developed, social distancing is in order, and we can only look to trust in medicine for the future.

The End

https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/27-04-2020-who-timeline---covid-19

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-issues-emergency-use-authorization-potential-covid-19-treatment