Wuhan Coronavirus Outbreak: How bad is it really? (Aiden Hobbs)

2/11/2020

We have all heard of the Coronavirus and its recent outbreak originating in Wuhan, China but how serious are these cases? Since the virus' came to light there has been 45,166 cases. Out of these cases the death toll has reached 1,115. Out of the total another 4,784 people have recovered from the sickness completely. Overall a total death rate at around 2%, pretty low. The incubation period is between 2 and 14 days before symptoms begin to appear. The symptoms include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Other hospitals recorded muscle aches, pneumonia, and nausea. Though this may sound frightening still about 80% of those people who died from the 2019-nCoV were over the age of 60 and 75% of people who died had pre-existing medical problems such as cardiovascular disease or diabetes. The illness is nothing compared to the amount of people that die from seasonal flu symptoms. Every year the flu kills an estimated 290,000 to 650,000 people.

When I first started researching the topic I thought that that virus was a larger national problem then it really is. Like many other things that the media and news outlets cover it was blown up to scare the general public. Through news stories, memes, and hearing news I had began to worry slightly about the illness. My questions for you include; Had you heard of the Coronavirus? How big of a problem did you believe it to be? Did you know any statistics? Is there any other time that you imagined a problem larger than it was because of news and other sources?

36 Comments

Erykah Foss

2/16/2020 01:07:48 pm

I have definitely heard of the Coronavirus. Thousands of people died due to the virus, and it is a scary thought that this year could be our last. The news takes advantage of people’s fear to attract them to their content. Viewers want to hear where the virus is spreading so that they can take precautions. The news turns this into money, but it begs the question: is their information accurately displayed? There is a chance that the epidemic is not as bad as the news portrays. Perhaps, the news got false information from China, opening the possibility of more deaths than we are aware of. I do not recall any statistics about the virus or any time I believed a problem was larger because of the news.

If the virus begins to spread more and more, it could mean hundreds of thousands or even millions of deaths worldwide. One hundred years ago, people typically traveled by ships. If a person on a ship had a disease or virus, it would take months for it to spread worldwide. Now that thousands of people travel by airplane every day, it is a matter of days before a virus affects the world population. Since we rely on quick travel for global economy and tourism, there is no way to stop the expansion of a virus. To me, the Coronavirus is just like Influenza or cancer: there is a chance that it will develop in my system and kill me, but I am not going to change my everyday life due to fear of death. I will, however, begin washing my hands and using hand sanitizer more regularly.

Faith

2/16/2020 01:15:55 pm

I agree that we should not let this virus scare us. Washing our hands and using hand sanitizer benefits us greatly.

Andy Gebhardt

2/16/2020 01:57:19 pm

Your point about how we travel is definitely valid. It is easier than ever to get somewhere in the world and usually within a day. However, just like transportation has changed, so has the medical field and the technology available to treat and prevent worldwide outbreaks. Do you think the Coronavirus will travel other parts in the world?

Erykah

2/16/2020 03:56:34 pm

I think the Coronavirus will travel; however, medics and medical companies, such as the CDC, are trying their hardest to prevent it from spreading. On their website, the CDC provides helpful tips about protecting yourself from contracting the virus, plus things to be cautious about if you already have it.

Madicyn

2/16/2020 06:39:58 pm

I like that you mentioned not letting this effect your every day life, and not living in fear. Living in fear is not a good way to live in any circumstance.

Kately

2/17/2020 04:30:28 pm

I agree, the proper precautions should be taken, but I am not overly concerned. People often joke about it to make light of the situation, is this a harmless joke or is it not at all appropriate.

Faith

2/16/2020 01:13:08 pm

I have heard of this deadly disease and it has most definitely grabbed society’s attention. At first, seeing all of the statistics on the news and Instagram made it seem so much worse than it actually is. This influenced people’s general knowledge of the virus, and made people believe that we were at risk for an apocalypse. However, people started making posts about how all of the hype on social media and news was making the situation seem much worse than it actually is. They compared the virus to the statistics of the flu and people quickly started to realize that it was only being hyped up for memes and more interesting news. Of course this is still a huge issue and should be recognized and we should still be concerned about the outbreak.
A few years ago, the media was reporting on the topic of the “Blue Whale Game” or the game that allegedly caused over 100 kids in Russia to commit suicide. This was on multiple media outlets and news channels, as well as all over social media. However, this issue proved to be untrue, as this game was not associated or reported with any of the deaths. But the creator of the game was arrested for encouraging self harm through what seemed to be just a harmless game.

Erykah

2/16/2020 01:30:24 pm

I also think we should take precaution so that Coronavirus does not spread, but we should not let it affect our lives if we do not have it. I have heard of the Blue Whale Game. It is scary to think that kids nowadays are more exposed to strangers on the internet who can manipulate them. Do you think parents should be more involved in what their child browses on the Internet? Or maybe the police or a secret service should keep track and prevent any creeps from advancing on children?

Faith

2/16/2020 01:52:12 pm

I do think parents should take precaution and have knowledge of what their children are doing on the internet but also not be able to see every single thing that they do. Many parents monitor their children so closely that when they do have freedom, they still do all the stuff they aren’t supposed to anyway.

Andy Gebhardt

2/16/2020 02:01:43 pm

I had not heard anything about this game you mentioned. Do you think the creator was actually trying to get kids to harm themselves? Are there other instances of this happening?

Ezra

2/16/2020 06:30:13 pm

Even though the coronavirus is not very serious it did make some pretty good memes that we all can appreciate.

Aiden

2/16/2020 09:58:14 pm

It’s amazing how social media spreads the word. Do you think this is more negative than positive?

Andy Gebhardt

2/16/2020 01:52:14 pm

The Coronavirus outbreak was initially a frightening thing because there was not a lot of research on it and it began in one small place. However, it was significantly blown up because of social media and the memes being made about it on Instagram and Facebook. This caused more people to be aware of it but not necessarily educated on what was happening.
Recently, I was talking with someone about it and we looked up the research on it and found more info about it. A 2% death toll is significant when you look at many other diseases, but since there were not a lot of people infected then it is not as big of a deal. There is also no cure for the virus and so it has to just get out of a persons system on its own.
One instance I can think of that the media impacted was Tide Pods. Kids began thinking it was a kind of dare when they could really do damage to the body. Ideas and reckless dares are bad for the media to share because other people will try to copy them without thinking of their own health. This is definitely a negative side of social media and seeing all kinds of posts from others.

Erykah

2/16/2020 03:51:51 pm

Although the news and social media can take advantage of people, it is helpful in spreading awareness of important events. I wonder how quickly important info would spread without technology. Do you think social media is more helpful than harmful? Or vice versa?

Alyssa Farnworth

2/16/2020 06:05:39 pm

As we have all seen it is not uncommon for the news to lie or blow things out of proportion, what do you think could be done to help solve this problem? Or do you think we should all just know to take everything we read with a grain of salt.

Sabrina

2/16/2020 06:08:45 pm

I think one of the problems was that China was not jumping to advertise new sickness. It has negatively affected their trade with other countries and between cities. With so little information, it's easy for social media to misunderstand or purposely tweak the information.

Brax Kauffman

2/16/2020 06:16:40 pm

Do you think that social media could have also been a good thing since it spread the awareness that eventually became the solution to its own probelm?

Ezra

2/16/2020 06:31:52 pm

I agree, it was frightening cause we did not know much about it. I found out that it is a new strand of an already existing disease so that was a little scary.

Kately

2/17/2020 04:43:42 pm

I agree, there was a lot of hype, but its only lethal if you have a compromised immune system...

Paige Hilton

2/16/2020 05:48:39 pm

I have heard of coronavirus and believe it to be a developing problem. The media tends to portray news in a negative light to grab reader's attention, giving rise to fear to keep the reader interested. Coronavirus does not seem to be as large of problem as it is portrayed.
However, being family members to those infected would have a larger impact than it does on people who are not even familiar with the virus. As the virus continues to infect more and more individuals, it is understandable to be nervous about coronavirus and worried about how it will affect those infected.
As a life-threatening disease, it is reasonable to worry. It is also reasonable to not believe everything in the news as the truth is not always conveyed.

Alyssa Farnworth

2/16/2020 06:00:58 pm

I liked your logic about worrying but also being aware of how the news portrays things. Just like with other diseases we should be worried we could get it and do the best we can to prevent it. Do you think it is fair of the media to scare the public in the way they do sometimes?

Sabrina

2/16/2020 06:04:58 pm

It's interesting how mellow I've reacted to it because I'm so far from it. People who have been directly affected by it would probably describe the Coronavirus as a terrible disease.

Brax Kauffman

2/16/2020 06:14:17 pm

I agree that it could become a big problem and that depending on the person , the severity of it changes.

Alyssa Farnworth

2/16/2020 05:56:55 pm

Through the news and social media I had heard of the Coronavirus and that many people were dying from it. I also heard that people were claiming the death toll was being lied about and that it was higher than anyone wanted to admit. These were the only things. The limited amount of information with the mix of the media running wild with it scared a lot of people. Now that we know a little more people are less
scared.
A death toll of 2% is still quite high and the amount of lives lost is very sad but it is something I feel we don’t have to worry about maybe as much as some outlets are suggesting. Such as claiming this could be a disease that ends the world. I however, do understand that with the amount of travel available to us in this time we could potentially spread something like this at a much faster rate which could have the potential for devastation. We all need to take precautions such as washing hands and normal other hygiene and preventative measures taken to keep from getting sick. Wearing masks is also a good idea as it can be spread through coughing and sneezing.
Another thing the media blew up was people adding clips into children’s videos on youtube telling them to hurt themselves, others, or do dangerous things such as turning on the stove in the middle of the night while their parents were sleeping. There were videos out there like that but very few and as far as I had heard no one actually got hurt in response to those videos. This caused a panic for a lot of parents. Obviously these videos are dangerous but they were nowhere near the epidemic social media claimed them to be. YouTube took the few videos down and the news stories went away as fast as they showed up and were virtually forgotten about.

Tori Weir

2/16/2020 06:27:06 pm

It is hard to tell the public the truth of what is happening when even officials do not know what they are dealing with. I feel like the news take advantage of this uncertainty to make more money. How big of this problem do you think this is?

Sabrina

2/16/2020 06:02:52 pm

I heard of the Coronavirus through social media. At the beginning I thought it was some terribly deadly and new sickness that I needed to be worried about. Over time I learned it was closer to a cold or the flu. Another thing I was wrong about was the death toll. On social media I was told that the death toll had reached over 70,000 and was now declared a plague by the National Health Organization.
After doing some of my own research I was comforted and no longer worry about the illness. My family even researched it at our family dinner. There's almost no way it will touch me anytime soon, especially in Salmon, Idaho.

Paige

2/16/2020 06:16:53 pm

It is interesting how the media purposefully scares people into reading their articles. I also did some of my own research, finding that coronavirus is not as severe as it has been portrayed.

Madicyn

2/16/2020 06:48:29 pm

It's crazy how some facts can be spread falsely around the internet so quickly. Good job at doing your research!

Aiden

2/16/2020 10:00:20 pm

Some news can be twisted or just flat out wrong. That’s the problem with social media and news outlets. It’s extremely easy to misinform thousands.

Brax Kauffman

2/16/2020 06:12:14 pm

The news is known for blowing everything out of of proportion and had been doing so for a long time. However, the corona virus may be a different circumstance depending on how the virus develops. While it only has had a couple thousand deaths , which is relatively small compared to other diseases, that may also because of the fact that we are only in the beginning stages of this new virus. There is no telling just how large this virus could become or how lethal it may develop to be. As far as my own opinion, I could see this becoming a considerable problem since it could develop into another seasonal disease which would only add to the annual amount of deaths that our world has to face a year. The news may be making this into something bigger than it actually is but there is still always the chance it could spiral into something far more dangerous.

Paige

2/16/2020 06:20:08 pm

I am glad that you noted that the coronavirus may be different depending on how the virus develops. Do you feel that it may be good individuals are being fed exaggerated information? That way they can be more aware of the virus, in case it does get worse and continues to spread.

Tori Weir

2/16/2020 06:21:08 pm

The news are always making something bigger than it actually is, and due to this, it makes it hard to know what to believe. In your opinion, how should a person determine what to believe in a news article?

Tori Weir

2/16/2020 06:13:52 pm

When I first learned about the Coronavirus, I knew it was going to be huge on the news and social media. After learning that the Wuhan was building a hospital for less than a week I knew it was a serious problem. However, I actually have not seen anything on social media about this because I have not looked and only read news articles online. There are always new stories coming out relating to the Coronavirus every day. Some articles make the Coronavirus bigger than it is actually is for more money and attention. Then there are those who tell the readers how different countries are dealing with it. What I found, which is not a smart idea, is that people are making Youtube videos pranking people in public about the Coronavirus. They would dress up in the full safety suits and go into public places to prank people. This, I feel like causes more unnecessary fear to people which adds to the causes of how big social media puts it out to be.
I do not know a lot about the statistics side of the Coronavirus besides that thousands are infected and dead. This is a problem to be aware of and know how to deal with if it comes to where we live. It is not a big of a problem for people to start overthinking and start stressing about it. As long as we remain calm and keep our bodies healthy it should be fine.
Another similar incident to this would have to be the Zika virus that happened in 2016. Everyone was freaking out about it, especially with the Olympics that was happening. Even athletes and fans did not go to Brazil because of it.

Madicyn

2/16/2020 06:25:16 pm

I have heard of the Coronavirus a decent amount, it has been a main joke on social media, and the main source of many memes. People tend to joke about serious or semi-serious issues very often online, and offline. Which in a way, spread awareness, just not in a helpful way. I also learned more about it through news source. I think it is a not necessarily a "big deal", but it is good to be aware of it and having professionals watching the outbursts just in case of it getting more serious, and affecting even higher masses of people. I wasn't aware of any statistics, or factual statements, other than where it had originated from and how it was caused. I do agree, that media makes things very over dramatic and exaggerated. Do you think it is something we need to be worried about? What about travelling plans, will people be stopped from going on them?

Ezra

2/16/2020 06:26:16 pm

I found out about the coronavirus through media and memes. I originally thought that is was a huge deal and that there would be a huge outbreak. After looking it up I found that there had not been many cases yet, and that it was mainly in china where the population is almost 2 billion. It is just how big the population is and how the type of people getting sick are mostly elderly. These are statistics that most media sources leave out. Every once in a while I'll over think something, but it always usually ends out pretty smoothly.

Kately

2/17/2020 05:36:40 pm

I believe it can be potentially be dangerous, but so long as we take the proper precautions like using hand sanitize and thorough hand washing, we will do just fine. It is overblown due to social media and initial lack of information. It will only kill someone with a compromised immune system.

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