How Was Covid-19 So Infectious?
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The true origin of COVID-19 is still a mystery. As we follow the tree of viruses, it just never seems to end. So how did COVID-19 really breakout? And how did it spread so quickly and efficiently? Well, let's take a look at where it first began.
COVID-19 broke out in Wuhan, China. For a few months, everything went smoothly. No symptoms of anything showed in any Wuhan residents. Despite this, COVID-19 later made its first appearance, the first case, and a severe one at that, was reported on the 31st of December. As Covid continued to spread rapidly throughout China, in mid-January, a plane holding over 50 passengers flew from China to the US. Thus, the first US case of COVID-19 was reported in late January. In addition to the many flights that flew out that day, more cases began to appear in numerous countries throughout the following months of 2020.
On March 11th, 2020, the World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. Nearly 5,000 Covid cases were reported each day. And although many symptoms appeared in many patients, they weren’t dying, the doctors thought. And on April 1st, 4,000 people died. The next day, almost 4,000 more had died. And the day after that, nearly 5,000. Not only were the number of cases skyrocketing, but so were the amount of deaths. April was also the time when numerous countries went into lock down. Despite these restricting regulations, the US cases were still growing exponentially. COVID-19 in late October had cooled down a lot.
This decrease in cases led to many states in the US to open schools once again. And can you guess what happened next? Well…
Statistics Provided: New York Times
US spiked in cases, averaging nearly 80,000 new cases a day. On November 24th, the number of new cases peaked at 184,000 new cases. The number peaked again on December 17th at 237,000 new cases. And peaked once again for the last time on January 9th at 251,000 new cases.if you want to know how bad this actually is, let's view the statistics.
We can see that in late October (the 1st spike) that the US contributed to over 25% of the global cases. In early December (the 2nd spike) the US once again contributed to over 50% of global cases. And in early 2021 of the last spike, 30%. Well, maybe not as bad.
This shows just how such a small change can also cause a big one. And yet, we never seem to learn.
If we rewind back to September of 2020, a new variant had submerged. Shortly after, 2 other variants of COVID-19 had also come up. (Btw Astron has written an article on the variants already!) Anyway, named after the first 4 Greek alphabet letters were the 4 variants
Alpha- The first COVID-19 virus
Beta- The second COVID-19 virus
And finally Gamma and Delta, the COVID-19 variants that seem to be the most successful out of the 4 and are the ones that are currently ravaging the globe. It is also believed that Gamma and Delta are responsible for over half of the global cases. So Corona really seems to be nothing but bad news right? When will it end? Well, the short answer is that it won’t end. At the rate that COVID-19 is spreading, it could go on ‘till 2024.
So if this isn’t a fate you wish to follow, everyone will have to do there part. In return, you should do yours. Wear a mask, and stay safe. See you next time.
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Original Google Document: The Astron | Why Covid-19 Was So Effective
Outside Sources: Google Analytics : COVID-19 Cases
