Image from washingtonpost.com

Zachary Rickmeyer

The coronavirus pandemic is currently sweeping the globe, and people are nervous about their safety and the safety of their loved ones should they contract the virus. The CDC states that “for most people, the risk of becoming seriously ill from the virus that causes COVID-19 is thought to be low.”

There are currently many conflicting numbers on the lethality of COVID-19, however, fatality rates tend to fluctuate between 0.6% on the low end (South Korea) to as high as 4.8% in the Hubei province of China. This is a notable variability when considering differences in lives lost as thousands contract COVID-19. A major contributing factor to this variability is access to testing and how broadly testing is administered throughout a population. As tests become more widely available, people with mild symptoms and those who are asymptomatic can be identified, lowering fatality rates and accounting for some of the wide disparities between countries.

According to Tomas Pueyo at Medium, the disparity might also, in part, be explained by grouping regions into those which are prepared and have the infrastructure to handle this public health crisis and those which are unprepared. Prepared regions, Pueyo explains, should tend towards lethality rates of 0.5-1% while unprepared regions can be expected to be in the 3-5% range, as much as a tenfold difference in the rate at which lives are lost.

The CDC cites that reports from China indicate serious illness is observed in about 16% of patients. Those that are most at risk are the 65+ population (80% of all fatalities come from this demographic) and those who have chronic pre-existing medical conditions. Some conditions listed by the CDC which may lead to a person being considered “high-risk” include heart disease, asthma, and severe obesity.

If you are a healthy person, your risk of getting very sick as a result of coronavirus is fairly low. Still, it is important to take measures which will have significant effects on members of our society who will be most adversely affected by COVID-19. By engaging in physical distancing, washing hands regularly, and using alcohol-based hand sanitizer, we can help to reduce the strain on our healthcare system so that providers can take the time to focus on more vulnerable members of society.

https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-people-will-die-f4d3d9cd99ca

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

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/summary.html?

CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fsummary.html

Image from medscape.com

Shreya Thiagarajan

As Texas reopens public spaces before the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown ends, a question on a lot of people’s minds is how we can resume normal activity outside without being at substantial risk of contracting the coronavirus. Previously, the Center for Disease Control stated only those with COVID-19 or healthcare workers directly serving coronavirus patients were required to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) to prevent the spread of the virus. However, more and more counties are increasingly requiring their residents to wear a cloth face covering or mask when visiting public places, such as grocery stores. 

The N95 respirator (or the European equivalent, known as FFP2) is one of the most effective masks recommended by the World Health Organization to wear by healthcare workers due to its ability to filter out about 95% of small particles. Yet, due to the shortage of masks and PPE in the United States, most healthcare workers resort to using and reusing existing masks that are available in the workplace; N95 masks are now mainly restricted to those tasked with aerosol-generating procedures. 

The rest of the public falls under the category of restricting virus spread in “non-healthcare settings”, as defined by the US Department of Homeland Security. Mask use in these community settings is not mandated, and there exists no formal recommendation of a specific DIY mask to wear because research on household materials’ ability to filter out virus particles has not been studied extensively. The CDC has guidelines for mask creation and use, stating that masks should be made with several layers of fabric, should be secured around the ears and fit snugly against the face, should allow for unrestricted breathing, and should be machine washable. It is only strongly recommended to wear these masks in public settings where social distancing is hard to carry out, such as grocery stores. Those under the age of two and those with other breathing issues need not wear the mask unless they are suspected of carrying the virus but are asymptomatic. 

https://www.fema.gov/news-release/2020/04/22/coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic-addressing-ppe-needs-non-healthcare-setting

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/when-and-how-to-use-masks

Image from news.stanford.edu

Emily Samson

Many of us are over a month into quarantine, and we’re getting used to the lifestyle changes caused by the coronavirus. At the same time, we’re starting to think about the end of the pandemic and how our “normal” might change because of it.

 There are two main factors that will determine what our future will look like in regard to the virus 1) how the changing seasons will affect the virus’ spread and 2) the duration of immunity in those who have already contracted and recovered from the virus. Unfortunately, at this time, we do know a lot about either of these factors, making it difficult to determine exactly what our post-quarantine lives will look like.  However, researchers have put together models to predict some possibilities.

 Most models suggest that social distancing will need to last around 18 months to prevent another sudden rise in coronavirus cases. Eighteen months is the amount of time that it is predicted will be needed for a vaccine against coronavirus to be readily available to the public. While this sounds like a long time, social distancing for 18 months does not necessarily mean we will be stuck in our homes the entire time.

 Under this model, It is likely that the restrictions we are facing now will ease. Researchers define social distancing as reducing contact outside the household, school, or workplace by 75%. This means that everyone should do as much as they can to reduce social contacts by 75%. While our social lives will change, we might get some degree of normalcy in our lives.

 This could look like restaurants opening in the future but taking out half their seats. Classrooms might have desks spaced six feet apart and will mix online learning with in-person learning. People will refrain from hugging or shaking hands when greeting each other. Perhaps we will get more personal space in airplanes rather than the cramped seats we are used to.

 As we get more information about the virus, our ideas of what the future looks like will evolve. While we are uncertain of the future, we should all be ready to adapt to changes in the way we live, work, and socialize.

https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/03/17/905264/coronavirus-pandemic-social-distancing-18-months/

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/04/24/science.abb5793