By Jason Gan, Jaeden Moe, Jacob Carr, and Saira Salim
We are all aware of Covid-19 and the damage it has done to both people and the economy. With 219 million people worldwide infected and 4.55 million people dead as of September 14th 2021. Covid-19 became a worldwide virus on January 30th, 2020 in Wuhan, China, but was discovered the year before on December 31st, 2019. Recently, another version significantly more deadly and more contagious has become known, named the Delta variant (aka SARS-CoV-2). Discovered in India in December 2020, it made its way to the United States in March 2021. The Delta variant of Covid-19 has been shown to be twice as contagious as the previous variants as well as being more likely to seriously sicken and/or hospitalize individuals, according to the CDC.
The people who are not vaccinated are most at risk of catching the new Delta variant. It has been shown that people in places with low vaccination rates have a much higher chance of catching Delta. People who are vaccinated have a much lower chance of being infected, although the fast-spreading virus has exposed weaknesses in the vaccine protection and breakthrough cases (cases when the person is vaccinated and still catches the virus) can occur. It’s still recommended to wear a mask at all times while in a public space. The virus cases are changing as on June 20th the Seven day average was 364,011, but as of August 8th it is 607,993 cases worldwide increasing by nearly 60% according to Wikipedia
There are numerous ways to identify if you have Covid, as it comes with many symptoms such as; fevers, chills, coughing, shortness of breath, fatigue, headaches, muscle and body aches, loss of taste and smell, sore throat, runny nose or congestion, nausea or vomiting, and diarrhea (Source: cdc.gov). If you do feel these symptoms, it is recommended to get tested for Covid-19. If you are infected or come in contact with infected individuals, you must be quarantined for two weeks, checking for any Covid Symptoms in case of infection as some individuals can share Covid while being asymptomatic (having a virus while having none of the symptoms of it).
One worrying thing is the reopening of schools. Children under the age of Twelve cannot be vaccinated as of now, so they may be in danger of getting Covid.
With Delta, one person being infected with Covid may infect an entire classroom, so in most schools it is required that children and adults wear a medical mask at all times while in school and wash their hands or sanitize them regularly. Schools may be especially dangerous Covid hotspots as there are large concentrations of children and adults in a small area such as a classroom, hallway, or cafeterias where people eat, so they have to take off their masks.
Covid-19 may seem to be the worst thing of our time, but it may not be as even if 219 Million people have been infected, over 140 Million have recovered and over two billion people have been fully vaccinated as of September 19th 2021 as well as Covid-19 only having around a 5% mortality rate according to the New York times, but for as long as Covid-19 exists we must be wary of it. Covid-19 is not going away soon and cases are still going up and down. Until Covid stops mutating we will have to live with Covid for a while.
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