How Does the Quarantine Change the COVID-19 Situation?

Here’s why you should stay at home. This virus is worse than it seems.

There is no vaccine. There is no cure. What happens when you are the next person to get it?

What is COVID-19?

COVID-19, or the novel coronavirus, is a newly found strain of virus, which arose in late December of 2019 in Wuhan, China. Since then, there have been over 1.3 million documented cases and over 74,000 deaths as of April 6th, 2020. Although it originated in China, the U.S. currently has the most cases, with over 340,000 reported.

COVID-19 is a coronavirus, which implies that there are more. A coronavirus is, in fact, a group of viruses that infects birds and mammals, and there have been quite a few in the past. For example, SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV are also coronaviruses. COVID-19 is the sickness, but the virus which causes it is SARS-CoV2.

SARS-CoV2 has the same genetic equipment of SARS-CoV, which caused an outbreak in 2003, although not nearly as bad as the coronavirus.

Quarantine

The U.S. government, in an effort to keep the cases down, has officiated a national lockdown-quarantine until April 30th at the least, affecting everyone, including schools. So many people are sick of staying at home and would prefer to go outside regardless of the disease. What they don’t realize, though, is how effective this quarantine is at eradicating this disease.

But, how does this quarantine change anything?

The answer is self-isolation.

Let’s look at an example:

It all started with Bob. Bob was a carrier of a disease, but he didn’t know he had it since he showed no symptoms. However, he could still give it to other people. Since he thought he was fine, he went to work.

At work, he passed a folder to his cubicle partner, Sherry, who then got the disease. He also lent a pen to Helen from across the hall, who got the disease after accidentally brushing against his hand. The next day, both Bob, Sherry, and Helen came to work, since Sherry and Helen did not show symptoms of the disease yet. Now, on the second day, there were three cases.

By the end of the second day, Sherry, Helen, and Bob had all infected two more people. That made nine people. If this scenario were to continue, then by the end of the fifth day, all 243 people in the offices were infected.

BUT, if Bob had to stay home because of a mandatory lockdown, no one would get sick, and the quarantine period would allow the disease to wear off within him making him noncontagious.

That is why it is important for all of us to stay home and understand the quarantine guidelines and follow them.

But, the quarantine is boring. What do I do? I’ve been on my phone for 15 hours a day since there’s nothing else to do at home all day.

Well, there are quite a few things that you can do.

1. Read a book.
   Lots of people “don’t like” reading books, but, in reality, they are a really great time passer and they also keep your learning mind fresh while you are out of school. Some good books or book series to read are Percy Jackson (for middle schoolers), “The Great Gatsby,” (high schoolers), or more YA books.
2. Exercise
   I’m sure you’ve heard of the “quarantine glow up” where people want to come back to school totally ripped and completely different people. While this is unlikely, it is still really good for you to exercise while in the house all day. A really good (and free) exercise program is Chloe Ting’s two week shred challenge.
3. Write something!
   Write a poem, article, email, letter, or soliloquy. Although it seems boring at first, it can be entertaining and fill up time.
4. An addition to exercise: go out for a run
   The fresh air is refreshing after being inside 24/7. Go to the neighborhood park or walk your dog (or cat).
5. Redecorate
   Shift things around in your room, redecorate, or do a project to change up your living space.
6. Do crafts
   Paint, draw, sketch, or build something to give to a friend when you get to see them next.
7. Do an exercise-a-thon with your friends over a Zoom call
   You can screenshare a workout of your choice on Zoom call to your friends and have fun getting fit.
8. Make bracelets
   This is part of “crafts” but I think it deserves it’s own space. Bracelets take a long time to do, but they are fun to make and they still exercise your cognitive skills. There are tons of cool tutorials on YouTube to get you started.

That’s all for now! I hope everyone stays inside, safe, and healthy during this time of crisis.