Jordan Cornell
Lantern Staff
Chinese health authorities announced on Tuesday Jan. 7, that they had isolated the coronavirus spreading in Wuhan, China. The virus has been named Covid-19 by the director general of the World Health Organization. The coronavirus is a new virus that causes a respiratory illness in people and can spread from an infected person where symptoms have not shown up yet to a healthy person.
China has confirmed 59,804 cases, and the National Health Commission reported on Thursday Feb. 13, that the number of infected persons across the world has reached 60,000. The virus can be spread by respiratory droplets, saliva, urine and stool.
The virus has symptoms including fever, cough and shortness of breath, with the most severe complications being pneumonia occurring in both lungs. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, it’s responsible for the Sars and Mers outbreak. There are at least 25 countries have confirmed cases, with multiple nations pulling their citizens from Hubei. The coronavirus has killed 1,357, as of Thursday Feb. 13th, while a comparable illness the flu has killed more than 10,000 people as of Saturday, Feb. 8. wSabrina Olson, a professor in nursing, compares the Coronavirus to a “new” influenza.
“I feel like both (coronavirus and the flu) are equally dangerous,especially to immunocompromised patients (elderly and children). I believe this virus is a public health issue and the (publics) reaction should be based on this,” Olson said.
So far, the state of Kansas has no confirmed coronavirus cases, though there was a scare on Tuesday, Jan. 28. In Douglas County, where a man who returned from Wuhan, China, two weeks prior had become sick and sought medical help. He was in isolation at the hospital while the CDC ran tests, which turned up negative for the coronavirus. Though there are 13 confirmed cases in the United States, there is no vaccine for the virus yet, though it could be available in 18 months.
“I think people get nervous about the coronavirus because it’s new, but I still feel influenza is much more threatening, at this time, to Americans,” Jaime Sharp, director of College Health Services, said.
According to Sharp, the influenza vaccine can still be effective. You can get a free on at one of the two Butler clinics located in El Dorado and in Andover. The free clinics have flu shots for free at both locations.
