Staying Safe At Home!!!

By: Wei Mei

The world is a dangerous place right now. Ever since the covid-19 became a global pandemic, people started fearing for their safety. It is not a surprise considering over hundreds are dying from the covid-19 every day in the U.S. alone. Thus, most people are choosing the fastest way to stay safe, social distancing.

What is the Covid-19? 

The first case of the Covid-19 started in Wuhan, China in December 2019. It only spread to the U.S. in late January, 2020.

Covid-19 is a type of coronavirus that is spread from person to person. It sometimes doesn’t have shown symptoms causing it hard to be detected. There are over six hundred thousand deaths with no cure. The only thing that can be done now is to prevent more people from being infected.

The best way to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

It is simple. A lockdown is needed. A lockdown is a state of isolation or restricted access instituted as a security measure.

As the virus spreads when you are within 6 feet of an infected person, being in lockdown would stop the spread of the virus. All types of businesses and schools will have to shut down and everyone will have to stay at home. This method is effective and over 50 countries are/were in a lockdown.

Of course, a national lockdown where every state has to go in a lockdown would be for the best. This way, it would prevent infected people from coming into the country.

It is not a long term solution.

Though a lockdown is necessary, it can not be used for too long. When in a lockdown state, besides those that can work at home, most will lose their jobs. This will cause a rise in unemployment rates. And when businesses slowly reopen, people would be unwilling to spend, opting to save up.

Boredom is another problem. Because of this, people will still go out as they have nothing to do. That is why some countries are stopping the lockdown, even though the virus is still spreading.

The national lockdown is an even bigger problem. It probably won’t happen. That is because it might not be legal, at least in the U.S. with the states. The states have the final say with this. Since this will ruin the financial sector, they will reject the use of the national lockdown.

Of course, if it really happens, that would be great. Though it would take at least two months before the lockdown will be lifted, as can be seen with China, the only country able to bring the virus down.

Other benefits of a lockdown.

One of the benefits is time. Most people will now have the time to relax. They can now spend time with their families and do the things they can enjoy. Before, they had to focus on their work so their time was limited.

Another is, surprisingly, health. There are now fewer places to buy alcohol or cigarettes. People are also starting to exercise more to help pass the time. Usually people are too lazy or uninterested to do this, but with the extra time it would be better than doing nothing.

The climate also has a positive impact. With people not going outdoors, there is less use of vehicles. This would cause a decrease in carbon emissions.

Alternatives to lockdowns.

Get tested. If you show symptoms of covid-19, you should get tested. This way you can get the medical help you need and stop you from infecting others. If you are infected, those you interacted with will also be tested. Though the problem with this is that it takes too long, around 5 days for the results to show. This makes the test, trace, and isolate methods useless.

Travel ban is also a must to prevent foreigners from bringing the virus. CDC uses a do not board list to prevent those suspected with a contagious disease from boarding airlines.

Of course, it is also important to research a vaccine to cure those currently infected and prevent future outbreaks. That is why world leaders pledged 8 billions dollars to help with the research.

What people need right now is safety. They don’t know whether someone has the coronavirus or not. To play it safe, stay at home and only leave when you have to. It would be even better if you tell your friends and family to do the same thing. Share this at various social media platforms to make sure others are aware of this too.

Sources

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus

https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/why-coronavirus-lockdown-necessary

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/why-lockdowns-work-epidemics-coronavirus-covid19/

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/how-to-stop-covid-19-find-test-isolate-treat/ 

Class sources

https://apple.news/ANZ22VwsLSHyxdX1drwh1cw

https://journalistsresource.org/studies/politics/polarization/media-trust-politics-lockdown-support/