First identified in Wuhan, China, 2019-nCoV, also known as the 2019 Novel Coronavirus has infected more than 20,000 people and more than 20 countries worldwide. Originally reported in China, the virus has since been found in Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam and the United States of America.
The 2019 coronavirus starts not unlike the common cold, another virus with mild symptoms that naturally circulates among humanbut this can be deadly to humans at prior risk, such as those who are chronically ill or high in age. 2019-nCoV has a similar demographic as influenza, with a high mortality rate but is easily preventable.
Wuhan officials have warned residents to stay at home, wear protective masks, and not spread alarming rumors. But after the United States began to enforce a ban on foreign visitors who are residents or have recently visited China, rumors revolving around people of Asian descent have run rampant.
The World Health Organization (WHO) believes that “any window for containing effective contaminants” has passed. Although the WHO statement did not stop the United States from closing its borders, or foreign ministers of France and Germany from considering imposing a US-style ban in hopes to control the virus. WHO, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have both urged against racial bias and xenophobic tendencies after the foreign ban began in the United States.
Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC stated during a press call, “We should not let fear or panic guide our actions. We should not assume because someone is of Asian descent that they have the new coronavirus.”
[vc_text_separator title=”Is the coronavirus quarantine allowing racism to occur with little repercussion?”]Whitney Farmer, freshman
Evelyn Wilbur, sophomore
[/vc_column_inner]Vishnu Arun, junior
Morgan Boussad, senior
[/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner]What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.
