The Average Reader’s Guide to Understanding Covid-19

Dear reader,

We know this stuff is scary.

Quarantine + isolation, chaos, fake news and food vanishing off shelves are situations bound to scare even the strongest of people.

It’s tough, and you might find yourself feeling lost or powerless in these situations. As a group of high school students, we did too. It’s tough to deal with not seeing your friends, seeing your parents scared and even the leaders of your country in a panicked state.

So, we decided to make a handbook to help you guys out. After all, knowledge is power, and it’s better to know how to be safe than sorry. This handbook teaches you about the background of pandemics + epidemics, viruses + Covid-19 itself, global response to it, implications, and ways that we react to it.

Get ready to build your toolkit of knowledge and combat corona!

Part 1: Pandemics vs Epidemics

On March 11th, the Coronavirus outbreak was officially considered a pandemic by the World Health Organization when it got promoted from an epidemic status.

Epidemics are large scale outbreaks of a disease within a community.

Pandemics describe out of control diseases that affect people worldwide (or can also be known as an epidemic on steroids 🤔).

We seem to forget that what we experience today is nothing new, but rather something that has happened occurred almost systematically every once in a while. By reflecting on our past experiences with pandemics, we can learn how to better react and defend against this current one.

With that being said, let’s take a trip together back to other times with more death and despair… ☠

The Spread of the Coronavirus, Image credit: https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/virus_spread_6-bc11.gif

Delightful, let’s start in the mid-1300s, and we’re gonna meet our old renowned and much-acclaimed friend, the Black Death.

The Black Death 🤒

The Black Death was a pandemic caused by the outbreak of the plague in Europe and Asia. Our good friend here managed to wipe out more than one-half of the population in Europe in the span of around 3–4 years from 1347–51. The plague was an infection due to the bacteria yersinia pestis and likely transmitted from rodents to humans through the bite of infected fleas.

There were three types of plague all infections caused by the bacteria…

1. The Bubonic Plague: Infection of lymph nodes (high fever, vomiting, buboes)
2. The Septicemic Plague: Infection of blood (blood clots, that limit blood flow to tissues resulting in black dead tissue)
3. The Pneumonic Plague: Infection of the lungs (bloody cough, transmitted by air, rapid death)

The Black Death Plague Doctors, Image Courtesy of the Author

Fun Fact: The iconic Plague Mask is correlated to air purity!

Responses and Reactions 😱

The response to Black Death was mainly panic. Combining a lack of medical knowledge and a heavy belief in the spiritual led to many people believing that the world was ending and that the disease was a religious cleaning. This fear and panic of the terrifying and seemingly incomprehensible onset of the plague drove many people to take to extreme and irrational measures. Any cures that were created were crude, based on a poor understanding of the bacteria and the human body. No one at the time knew how to treat it, instead, they relied on bloodletting, drinking potions of mercury, and superstitious practices. In actuality, mortality rates for treated individuals are around 40% for septicemic plague, or the 1–15% range for bubonic plague.

Aren’t we thankful for modern medicine? 😏

Widespread Transmission ⚓

The plague originated from China where it first transferred from rat to human. The black death, similar to the current Cov-19, was helped along with the spread of trading. Specifically trading ships due to the Mongol empire along with Italian merchants on the Silk Road. Not unlike how international travel, especially air travel has spread COVID-19 worldwide. Quarantine was introduced and sailors were kept in isolation (social distancing) for up to 40 days, reducing the spread of the disease.

Impacts and the Aftermath 🌾

Obviously as one might expect to kill around 50 million people have, well impacts. From drops in food and resources to higher wages for laborers, the economy suffered a heavy blow from losing so much of the population in such a short period.

An End to the Plague 💀

The Black Death may have had its name go down in history, but as a disease, it didn’t do well from an evolutionary perspective. Around the early 1350s, the plague had slowed down. It’s hypothesized that the deadly pathogen has evolved into a milder modern version, a less lethal strain still around today. Although a deadly pathogen may be good at killing victims, they will run out of victims, and be forced to evolve into a milder version to avoid demise.

Social distancing may seem frustrating but it’s nothing new for the United States. In 1918 during the outbreak of the Spanish flu very similar measures of quarantine were enforced.

The Spanish Flu

The Spanish flu, a strain of influenza (a fancier way of saying “the flu”) killed around 50 million people even young adults and affected 500 million people worldwide. This flu started in Europe, Asia, and the United States causing a pandemic in 1918.

The Spanish flu came from the H1N1 virus as a subtype of the flu, our friend took a particular liking to (attacking) the respiratory system. Common symptoms were coughing, sweating, and pneumonia leading up to a death rate of 2.5%. This virus was highly contagious and transmitted by air, through coughing and sneezing.

Shh…. A Hushed up Media 📰

The Spanish flu came at a difficult time, nearing the end of World War I. The cramped and unhygienic living conditions of soldiers may have led to the proliferation of the virus. When the soldiers returned home, so did the virus.

Although Spain was one of the earlier countries to be hit, the Spanish flu wasn’t confined to Spain. Rather Spain being neutral in the war was the first to report on it. Other countries (Allied and Central Powers) enforced censorship on the media and didn’t report on the disease hoping to keep country morale high.

At that time, medical knowledge was still lacking and doctors didn’t know the cause of the disease nor how to treat it. World War I caused a shortage of medical workers, contributing to overloaded hospitals.

Exponential Spread 🙋‍♀️

There are many speculations where the virus came from, ranging from France, Britain, or China. Nevertheless, it struck hard in Europe, America, and Asia before rapidly spreading across the globe. Many communities imposed quarantines, closed public spaces, and instructed people to stay indoors and wear masks.

Although a little too late, they had the idea of “flattening the curve”, a concept that is crucial today. This spreading out of the speed of infection over time can reduce the pressure on the health care system. They also learned that social distancing needs to be sustained, just when the pandemic subsided restrictions were eased and caused another spike in deaths.

Downfall of Economy 💵

Other than taking out many families and a good chunk of the population, the flu also (naturally) affected the economy. Since most businesses had to shut down either due to restrictions or the sheer number of employees that were sick. Fundamental services slowed to a crawl, and even health departments started to shut down leaving residents bewildered about what was transpiring.

An End to the Plague 📉

Around 1919 the pandemic has ravaged its course and left many of those infected either with immunity or dead. Other outbreaks popped up occasionally such as the one from 1957–1958 or in 1968. The Spanish Flu started with an alarming exponential spread, but slowed down, stabilized, and eventually declined.

Now let’s look at a more recent case, Ebola from 2014. One that has been reported on by the media similar to the Coronavirus (and unlike the Spanish flu whoops).

Ebola Virus, Image Credit: https://i.pinimg.com/564x/0d/dc/f9/0ddcf983be4faca750494db774ff6de2.jpg

Ebola 😷

The Ebola virus disease or EVD is a deadly disease that killed over 11,300 in a 2014–2016 outbreak. Our comrade here causes occasional outbreaks but seemingly likes to stay in Africa, especially in remote areas where high fatality rates emerge. This virus is also animal-borne, with the disease likely originating from bats and later transferring onto humans.

Ebola causes various symptoms like fever or vomiting and can spread through direct contact with bodily fluids such as blood, sweat, and tears. Fatality rates hover around 50%, with some at 25% and other outbreaks hitting a 90% fatality rate.

Poor Infrastructure 🏥

Many organizations like the United Nations and the World Health Organisation reported on Ebola outbreaks. They are also working to help communities prevent, defend, and recover from outbreaks through practices such as quarantine. Previous and current outbreaks have also shown the importance of an existing solid medical system. If health systems aren’t prepared or equipped to deal with outbreaks, many things go downhill and leave patients and their communities vulnerable.

Many clinical trials for Ebola were performed in 2015 to deliver a complete and effective Ebola vaccine. The first approved vaccine was rVSV-ZEBOV from the end of 2019.

Restricted Spread

Ebola first surfaces in 1976 with outbreaks in Central Africa, and a later larger outbreak from 2014–2016 in West Africa. In this epidemic, EVD spread to many other countries (7 to be precise), including the United States, Spain, and Nigeria.

Luckily with the benefits of modern medicine, we were able to better manage the outbreaks and intervene as early as possible. This includes measures such as vaccination, safe burials, and tracing people that may be at risk of infection. With a better understanding of how the virus spreads, we can limit contact with infected bats and humans.

The Aftermath of Instability 🌍

The Ebola crisis left its mark on various aspects of society. Leading to a decrease in economic growth with the rise of food insecurity and unemployment. Along with social impacts on the standard of living, overwhelmed health systems, in conjunction with the stigmatization of patients and health care workers.

Not Quite an End

Ebola outbreaks are still ongoing, and a risk we still face today even with up and coming vaccinations and treatments. With recent outbreaks such as the one in 2018. Although advanced travel methods and global trade have sped up the rate of infection, medical knowledge and technology have traveled leaps as well. (I’m just glad I don’t need to deal with bloodletting.)

One Last Message 🙏

We tend to focus on the things that appear right in front of us. But as humans we have this special gift — we can look also view things long term. Currently, it is truly an unfortunate situation, yet at the same time, it’s also comparable to other experiences that we have weathered in the past.

Image Credit: https://dribbble.com/GRES

Currently, we get this unique chance to learn and grow from this experience.

Not everything is in our control. We should keep in mind was is and what isn’t in our dichotomy of control, and (obviously) follow recommended medical practices.

Key Takeaways 📌

• The Importance of Quarantine and Self Isolation — the practice of quarantine was created during the Black Death, and the isolation of sailors drastically reduced rates of infection
• The Key Role of Media — with media downplaying the disease many citizens didn’t take it seriously and didn’t self isolate causing mounting fatalities
• The Foundation of Health Systems — many remote communities in Africa were not prepared to face Ebola outbreaks, with poor infrastructure and sanitation practices
• The Fear of Uncertainty — Some people seem to prefer the worst-case scenario in their mind over accepting how none of us truly know what’s to come. (What’s in your control?)

The Toliet Paper Crisis, Image Courtesy of the Author

Part 2: Viruses

There’s no denying that 2020 is a time that will undoubtedly be inscribed into textbooks as one of the most important years in all of recent human history.

The supersonic progression of the coronavirus (Covid-19) is sending waves of terror across the entire globe, with tens of thousands of cases being announced every day.

This is all really scary stuff, and everybody wants to best protect themselves against the highly contagious disease. However, to do that, we must understand what exactly is a virus and how they work. We need to understand why Covid-19 propagates so unbelievably fast and how you can protect yourself against it. Fortunately, we’ve compiled all the information you need to do that.

What is a virus?

At a high level, a virus is essentially just a biological agent that reproduces inside the cells of a living host. When infected by a virus, a host cell quickly produced thousands of identical copies of the original virus.

Because of that broad definition, it is worth noting that similar to bacteria, there are both good and bad viruses. The viruses themselves are just microscopic infectious particles that consist of an RNA or DNA genome enclosed in a protein shell.

Before entering a cell, viruses exist in a form known as virions. During this phase, they are roughly one-hundredth of the size of a bacterium and are composed of 3 distinct parts: genetic material (either DNA or RNA), a protein coat which protects the genetic information, and a lipid envelope that surrounds the protein coat when the virus is outside of the cell.

Unlike human cells or bacteria, viruses don’t contain chemical machinery needed to carry out the chemical reactions to sustain life. Alternatively, viruses carry only a couple of enzymes that decode their genetic instructions. Thus, a virus must have a host cell in which to live to make more viruses.

How do they work?

Regardless of the type of host cell, all viruses follow the same basic steps in what is knows as the lytic cycle:

1. A virus particle attaches to a host cell
2. The particle releases its genetic instructions into the host cell
3. The injected genetic material recruits the host cell’s enzymes
4. Following that, the enzymes make parts for more new virus particles
5. The new particles assemble the parts into new viruses
6. The new particles break free from the host cell.

The Origins of Viruses

The origins of viruses are still unknown. There are 2 prominent theories in the scientific community: 1) The progressive hypothesis, that viruses came from genetic elements that gained the ability to move between cells; and 2) The Virus-First hypothesis, that viruses predate or coevolved with their current cellular hosts.

The Progressive Hypothesis states that mobile genetic elements — pieces of genetic material capable of moving within a genome — gained the ability to exit one cell and enter another. Retroviruses have a single-stranded RNA genome.

When the virus enters a host cell, an enzyme converts that single-stranded RNA into double-stranded DNA. This viral DNA then migrates to the nucleus of the host cell. Another viral enzyme inserts the newly formed viral DNA into the host cell’s genome.

The Virus-First Hypothesis states that viruses may have been the first replicating entities. Scientists predicted that viruses existed in a precellular world as self-replicating units. Over time these units became more organized and more complex.

Eventually, enzymes for the synthesis of the membranes and cell walls evolved, resulting in the formation of cells. Viruses, then, may have existed before bacteria, or eukaryotes.

Composition of Viruses

Viruses are noncellular, meaning they are biological entities that do not have a cellular structure. They, therefore, lack most of the components of cells, such as organelles, ribosomes, and the plasma membrane. There are four main morphological virus types:

Helical: “spring” shaped structure with the “payload” **(**typically single-stranded RNA, but ssDNA in some cases) The well-studied tobacco mosaic virus is an example of a helical virus.

Icosahedral Most animal viruses are icosahedral or near-spherical with chiral icosahedral symmetry. A regular icosahedron is an optimum way of forming a closed shell from identical subunits. The minimum number of identical capsomeres required for each triangular face is 3, which gives 60 for the icosahedron.

Many viruses, such as rotavirus, have more than 60 capsomers and appear spherical but they retain this symmetry. To achieve this, the capsomeres at the apices are surrounded by five other capsomeres and are called pentons.

Capsomeres on the triangular faces are surrounded by six others and are called hexons. Hexons are in essence flat and pentons, which form the 12 vertices, are curved. The same protein may act as the subunit of both the pentamers and hexamers or they may be composed of different proteins.

Prolate: This is an icosahedron elongated along the fivefold axis and is a common arrangement of the heads of bacteriophages. This structure is composed of a cylinder with a cap at either end.

Envelope: Some species of virus envelop themselves in a modified form of one of the cell membranes, either the outer membrane surrounding an infected host cell or internal membranes such as a nuclear membrane or endoplasmic reticulum, thus gaining an outer lipid bilayer known as a viral envelope.

This membrane is studded with proteins coded for by the viral genome and host genome; the lipid membrane itself and any carbohydrates present originate entirely from the host. The influenza virus and HIV use this strategy. Most enveloped viruses are dependent on the envelope for their infectivity.

Complex: These viruses possess a capsid that is neither purely helical nor purely icosahedral, and that may possess extra structures such as protein tails or a complex outer wall.

Some bacteriophages, such as Enterobacteria phage T4, have a complex structure consisting of an icosahedral head bound to a helical tail, which may have a hexagonal base plate with protruding protein tail fibers.

This tail structure acts as a molecular syringe, attaching to the bacterial host and then injecting the viral genome into the cell.

Previous viral diseases

The Ebola Virus Disease is a rare but extremely severe and often fatal illness to humans, with a fatality rate of 50%! It infects dendritic cells, which normally display signals of infection on their surfaces to activate T lymphocytes — the white blood cells that could destroy other infected cells before the virus replicates further.

With defective dendritic cells failing to give the right signal, the T cells don’t respond to infection, and neither do the antibodies that depend on them for activation. The consequences are especially profound in the liver, where Ebola wipes out cells required to produce coagulation proteins and other important components of plasma.

Damaged cells in the gastrointestinal tract lead to diarrhea that often puts patients at risk of dehydration Ultimately, death is usually caused by damage to blood vessels leads to a drop in blood pressure, and patients die from shock and multiple organ failure.

It is believed that it stems from a family of fruit bats by the name of Pteropodidae. Ebola is introduced into the human population through close contact with the blood, waste, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals.

Upon contracting it, the disease is easily transmissible to others via direct contact. The biggest outbreak recorded took place in 2014 in West Africa. The outbreak started in Guinea but moved across the borders to Sierra Leone and Liberia.

The H1N1 Flu Virus occurs in people that are in contact with infected pigs. When this occurs, it is called a “variant influenza virus”. Symptoms are similar to that of regular human influenza and can include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite, coughing, runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

People catch H1N1 the same way as the seasonal flu. When people who have it cough or sneeze, they spray tiny drops of the virus into the air. If you come in contact with these drops, touch a surface (like a doorknob or sink) where the drops landed, or touch something an infected person has recently touched, you can catch H1N1 swine flu.

People who have it can spread it one day before they have any symptoms and as many as 7 days after they get sick. Kids can be contagious for as long as 10 days.

The Zika Virus is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that was first identified in Uganda. Zika virus is primarily transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito from the Aedes genus, mainly Aedes aegypti, in tropical and subtropical regions.

Aedes mosquitoes usually bite during the day, peaking during early morning and late afternoon/evening. This is the same mosquito that transmits dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever. Zika virus is also transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy, through sexual contact, transfusion of blood and blood products, and organ transplantation.

The incubation period (the time from exposure to symptoms) of Zika virus disease is estimated to be 3–14 days. The majority of people infected with the Zika virus do not develop symptoms.

Symptoms are generally mild including fever, rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise, and headache, and usually last for 2–7 days. The first recorded outbreak of Zika virus disease was reported from the Island of Yap (Federated States of Micronesia) in 2007.

This was followed by a large outbreak of Zika virus infection in French Polynesia in 2013 and other countries and territories in the Pacific. In March 2015, Brazil reported a large outbreak of rash illness, soon identified as Zika virus infection, and in July 2015, found to be associated with Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Covid-19 is contracted through the mouth, nose, and eyes so make sure to shield your face by any means necessary — whether it be by wearing a mask or by just staying home.

Washing your hands properly dissolves the outer layer of viruses known as lipids — preventing further function of the virus. Please share this article with everybody that you think will benefit from it and stay safe!

Part 3: COVID-19

In December 2019, a novel coronavirus was found to have developed in Wuhan, China. Dubbed the severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), this virus causes a disease that now has the world scrambling to find its cure: COVID-19, or the Coronavirus disease (2019).

And I think it’s safe to say that our entire lives have been upturned by COVID.

As of right now, one-third of the global population is in quarantine. There is a total of almost 500,000 cases, all of which have developed in just a few months. COVID is responsible for around 22,000 deaths so far, 40 of which are in Canada alone. Thus, it’s no surprise that the disease has been declared a pandemic — the same level of severity as the Spanish flu, which killed 50 million people 100 years ago.

Unfortunately, because of this newfound panic to end the virus before it ends us, there has been a huge increase in the number of fake rumors. False sites are appearing everywhere in the hopes of scamming regular citizens, paranoia is causing panic posts — people are believing even the most ridiculous of things. In a time like this, accurate information needs to be shared with the public to quell any misunderstandings. So, to start, let’s take a look at the basics of the COVID-19 pandemic.

What is COVID-19?

COVID-19 is the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, a novel type of coronavirus. If you’re worried about coronaviruses, we’ve all been infected by one of them at least once before. They’re a giant family of zoonotic viruses, causing illness in animals or humans, and are known to cause respiratory infections. Their damage, however, varies; some coronaviruses cause Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), while others give you just a common cold. These pesky diseases stem from tiny smaller-than-cell balls of genetic information that are both living and not living at the same time… Confusing, right?

Generally, the structure of different viruses varies a ton. Their basic composition is a capsid, or a protein coat, encapsulating some form of genetic material. The size and shape of these are up to the virus itself, and additional features that help the virus with its functions can also be added on. In terms of the deadly SARS-CoV-2, it stores its genetic data in the form of RNA and has a circular capsid. Staying true to the brand of coronaviruses, this capsid is covered in spike proteins, aiding it in its journey to reproduce.

Kind of reminds me of these toys (click the link)

Viruses, being “non-living” things, cannot reproduce without a host cell. And it’s the eventual death of the host caused by the virus which creates, well, problems for the host organism.

Transmitting COVID-19

Currently, the coronavirus’s main way of spreading seems to be through “droplet infection”. This scientific term is fairly self-explanatory: one can contract the virus by touching the droplets of saliva or discharge when an infected person coughs or sneezes. However, even just touching someone who is ill and then touching your face could allow the virus to enter your system.

A short infographic explaining how COVID spreads!

There’s not much known about other ways to transfer the virus, though recent laboratory research showed that some particles of SARS-CoV-2 can remain viable and potentially infectious on cardboard for up to 24 hours and plastic and stainless steel for up to three days. Additionally, researchers are looking into the possibility of airborne transmission, something which would be extremely difficult to deal with.

Once you are infected with the virus, it has an incubation period of 1–14 days, with an average of 5. This is extremely dangerous since, during this period, you have no symptoms, but you can still infect other people. That’s why self-isolation is so important!

SARS-CoV-2’s Infection Route

Like most coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2 begins at the top of your throat, where around 80–85% of patients can eradicate it. These people are lucky, and they usually end up with a mild to moderate case of the disease. However, if the virus manages to travel down the lungs it causes pneumonia by traveling deep inside and mainly targeting the spleen, intestines or lungs where it can have the most impact. Respiratory viruses tend to infect and replicate in two places: the nose and throat, where they are highly contagious, or lower in the lungs where they don’t spread as easily but are much more deadly. The issue with SARS-CoV-2 is that it dwells in both the upper respiratory tract and lower in the lungs, creating a combination of the contagiousness of colds and the lethality of SARS.

Our lungs are made up of two different types of cells: goblet cells that create mucus, and cells with cilia. Firstly, goblet cells are extremely important as they help to protect lung tissue from pathogens in addition to making sure your breathing organ doesn’t dry out. The second type of cell is those with hair-like batons called cilia. They help move around the mucus by beating it with their cilia and also help to clear debris like pollen or viruses. Similar to SARS, we’ve seen that COVID-19 will infect and kill cilia cells, making patients’ airways filled with debris and fluids and thus causing pneumonia in both lungs.

Lungs of a COVID-19 patient — hazy spots marked by yellow arrows indicate pneumonia

SARS-CoV-2 starts by using its spike proteins to latch onto the cell, connecting to a certain receptor of the cell. To “unlock” the cell, viruses usually use proteins on their surface, allowing them to invade; inserting their RNA, or genetic material, inside. The cell usually won’t be able to catch what’s happening, and will eventually execute the virus’s instructions: to create more copies of the virus. This is why it’s so dangerous for even a few coronaviruses to get to an organ or area where it can reproduce. Each time a cell is infected its population increases exponentially. The cell will continue to use its resources to create more and more viruses until the viral RNA finally orders the cell to self-destruct. From there, the cell membrane will essentially melt away, leaving the viruses with the opportunity to attack more epithelial cells.

Most of this affects your lungs, however, the real problem starts when the virus turns your immune system against you. To fight off the virus currently invading your lungs, your immune system is sent there to remove the mucus via a cough or a runny nose so that it can clear away the damage and repair lung tissue. Your immune system is naturally pretty dangerous to you but is tightly regulated. However, once in the lungs, viruses begin to infect the immune cells. This causes the immune system to overreact and go haywire, killing not only infected cells but also your healthy tissue. But it doesn’t stop there. More and more immune cells are sent to the area, kind of like sending an army to kill an ant. Because of this immune response, there is more damage done to your lungs, creating even more debris and worsening pneumonia.

If lung damage continues to build, it could lead to the protective epithelial lining of the organ to disappear in very serious cases. This allows bacteria to infect things like your alveoli, small sacs where oxygen enters your bloodstream. This can cause people’s lives to depend on ventilators or even respiratory failure. If the patients do manage to recover, it sometimes comes with the cost of permanent lung damage. During the SARS outbreak, the virus would punch holes in the lungs, creating a honeycomb-like appearance. Unfortunately, lesions similar to SARS are present in those afflicted with COVID too. The inflammation in your lungs makes the membranes between the air sacs and blood vessels more permeable, filling the lungs with fluid and affecting their ability to oxygenate the blood.

What does it feel like to get COVID?

To read more about possible symptoms, click here.

In the beginning, from day 2–14, patients usually feel as though they have a cold. It’s highly likely that one would have a fever, since around 44% of those with the virus reported having a fever on admission to hospital, and 89% of them eventually developed one. However, it’s also possible that the virus starts with gastrointestinal symptoms. Since the virus invades lung cells and damages the cilia which clear airways with mucus, the most common symptoms of the virus are phlegm, a dry cough, and shortness of breath. Usually, by day 5, people who have previous health issues begin to have trouble breathing.

Cases of COVID are generally classified into four different types: mild, moderate, severe or critical. On average, it takes someone 7 days to go to the hospital and, within that period, mild cases of the coronavirus should be able to heal. However, in moderate to severe cases, the patient develops pneumonia, which can take weeks for some to recover from. Anyone not needing supplemental oxygen is generally considered to have a moderate case, and severe or critical cases may have ARDS. ARDS, or acute respiratory distress syndrome, is a type of respiratory failure categorized by widespread inflammation in the lungs. It causes fluid to build up and can cause the need for life support. Around 30–40% of ARDS cases are fatal. Even if the patient does not need life support, the fluid which is building up in their lungs begins to affect air transfer, and most will need ventilators to get more oxygen into their bloodstream. Usually, deaths from COVID are caused by the ventilators being unable to give the patient oxygen because there is simply too much liquid.

Most people who die from the disease usually do so within 14–19 days. On average, people who recover from COVID do so within 2 and a half weeks, however, with the most critical cases, it might take months. That being said, concerns have been raised regarding how recovered patients might still be contagious.

Why is it so hard to cure COVID-19?

Viruses naturally are harder to “cure” because, for the most part, there isn’t a straightforward way to cure them. Unlike bacterial infections, antibiotics do nothing against viruses like the common flu. Most prescriptions for viral infections simply fight off symptoms while your immune system finds a way to overcome the tiny intruders. Very few infections have an antiviral medicine to treat it since it’s difficult to find something that stops the virus and doesn’t hurt the cell. Additionally, viruses mutate and adapt extremely quickly, meaning an effective treatment must constantly be changed to combat it. That’s why viruses are generally prevented rather than treated, through vaccines. Vaccines allow your immune system to have a “practice round” against the virus; after fighting off the germ once your body will remember which substances it should use when it’s invaded again.

In terms of COVID, the virus has RNA as its genetic material. These types of viruses have always been even more difficult to stop since they can travel through a lot of different hosts and mutate rapidly. Coronaviruses also have extra proteins which make them stronger. Specifically, they have a proofreading protein that allows them to fix errors that may happen during the replication process, reducing the number of possible defective viruses in our bodies.

How are scientists currently trying to cure COVID?

For most viruses, there are two different ways to fight back. The first method is through attacking the virus’s proteins, preventing them from doing things like entering a cell or copying their genetic material. This is how Remdesivir works, a drug currently in clinical trials for COVID-19 under development by Gilead Scientists. Remdesivir works by blocking the SARS-CoV-2 virus from copying its RNA, or genetic material — the instructions it uses to replicate itself. Remdesivir resembles a component of RNA but causes the copying process of the virus to stop once the drug is consumed. This is extremely important as it can target the virus without harming our other cells.

Hopefully, Remdesivir does give us a viable cure

The current issue with treatments like Remdesivir is the speed at which coronaviruses and viruses in general mutate. This would mean that in the future, the virus could evolve to render Remdesvir pointless, creating an arms race similar to the one we have with the flu right now. Currently, a new flu shot has to be developed each year to keep up with the virus.

Scientists have to prepare hundreds of samples to test

The second possible solution is by blocking a viral protein from interacting with a human protein it needs. This approach will protect the host and has a big advantage over disabling the virus itself. Human cells don’t change as fast, so if a good drug is created it should remain effective for a longer period. Currently, scientists at the Quantitative Biosciences Institute (QBI) at the University of California have already created a partial list of the proteins which the coronavirus relies on, and are looking into pre-existing drugs that may be able to fight the coronavirus. This is because the traditional process of creating a whole new drug and getting it FDA approved could take years and millions of dollars. By using drugs already FDA approved, they can bypass these complications. So far, they have sent 10 candidate drugs, one of them being a cancer drug called JQ1, to clinics with live SARS-CoV-2. They have found 69 existing drugs that bind the 332 human proteins they’ve identified. 27 of the drugs are FDA approved, and 42 are in clinical or preclinical trials, meaning that the possibilities of a cure are very high.

Scientists are also looking into chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, both of which are anti-malaria drugs since they have helped with the SARS outbreak in the past. Research, however, has shown that while these two drugs greatly help with pneumonia, they do not stop COVID and only treat the virus’s symptoms.

Another method is through protease inhibitors. These are a type of antiviral drugs which are used to treat HIV. These compounds block an enzyme in the virus which usually trims proteins down, stopping the virus from maturing properly. Currently, scientists are looking into using the same type of method of targeting the proteins that COVID uses to replicate.

Lastly, a future vaccine could help our bodies produce antibodies that target the SARS-CoV-2 virus and prevent it from infecting human cells. It would work similarly to the flu vaccine and help in the prevention of infection of humans.

So… what does this all mean for me?

While COVID-19 might be scary, the best thing for everyone to do is stay at home and avoid as much contact with other people. There’s been a major increase in community cases, or cases in which it is unsure who was the source of the virus, so restricting contact with others is the best way to stay safe. Also, don’t forget to wash your hands!

Part 4: Global Perspective

On the 31st of December, 2019, a mysterious illness appeared in Wuhan, China, a city with a population of 11 million, which would later be known as COVID-19 by billions of people around the globe.

The virus, SARS CoV-2 first emerged in a wet market, a place where animals such as bats, snakes, rabbits, and birds are illegally sold, kept in cramped living spaces in close contact, and living in unhygienic conditions.

The stallholders, vendors, and frequent shoppers were the first to be affected by the unknown disease. 41 victims showed up to hospitals with peculiar cases of pneumonia, and the market was closed. Within days, the virus had already spread across Wuhan and was making its way across China.

January 7th, the virus was identified as a novel coronavirus.

Since then, SARS CoV-2 has spread like a plague, causing 10,000 deaths, and 240,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19. To prevent the rapid growth, countries are in the process of putting businesses, schools, and travel on lockdown, and telling the citizens to remain in self-isolation, cutting off contact with friends and family.

Even so, there are people who believe that they are invincible to the war waged against them by nature’s wrath.

Incredibly, even in the middle of this pandemic, there are still people who are going on vacation and returning to their countries with the virus, faking their travel history and refusing to be quarantined, or simply wandering outside with an utter disregard for social distancing and the safety of those around them.

This article is there for everyone to understand the gravity of the situation, and to be considerate about the safety of those around them.

Right now, many places are in a dire situation, including the U.S.A and Italy, which continue to have thousands of new cases every day. Our global pandemic trend has been rising exponentially at a frightening rate, with hundreds of thousands of cases.

As the graph implies, from the end of February to March 23, the number of COVID-19 cases spiked up, going from below 100,000 to almost 400,000. This sudden growth is one of the main reasons why everyone is so panicked about the virus because it shows little to no signs of stopping, even after all the precautionary measures and government action that has been taking place.

Recently, China has been able to prevent the spread of COVID-19 however, by issuing a lockdown, canceling all travel, and strictly policing the cities to ensure that everyone followed the rules, an impressive feat for such a short amount of time.

On the other hand, Spain, Italy, and the US are getting more than 5,000 new cases every day, clearly showing that the preemptive measures they are taking are failing to mitigate the spread of the virus.

The deaths however also reflect the health and age variance in the population. Surprisingly, even with 10,000+ new cases in the US, they have only 222 new deaths, whereas France, with 2,000 new cases has 18 more deaths. With the knowledge that the virus affects people with a weaker immune system, namely seniors and smokers, we can get an idea of what the general population looks like in each country.

In total, there are 422,566 cases, with 18,887 deaths, and 108,388 recovered.

There are precautionary measures that have been advised for people to take. One of these, perhaps the most iconic, are wearing masks. On the eastern side of the world, pretty much everyone wears masks, so much so that they have colored prints and designs. On the western side of the world, however, people believe that you should only wear a mask if you are sick to prevent others from getting sick because when you wear a mask it prompts you to touch your face more often, which is one of the ways the virus is transmitted. The main purpose of the mask is to prevent the virus from escaping through your nose or mouth.

Another well-known one is remaining in self-isolation. By doing this, you are trying to ensure that you do not encounter people or surfaces who may be carrying the virus, from the safety of your home. Quarantine is similar to this, except in this case, the people who are sick are in isolation, away from healthy people instead.

Lastly, social distancing is advised to those who are leaving their homes to grab necessities. Social distancing requires that people remain 3 feet away from each other to ensure that the virus can not be transmitted between them.

Despite governments advising against crowds and telling people to remain inside, many people aren’t taking this seriously enough.

Take Miami, for example. Though the governor announced that there should be no more than groups of 10 people on the beach, the beaches were packed with people. After interviewing some of the tourists, one replied that the virus was being blown out of proportion and was messing with her spring break, and another replied, “If I get corona, I get corona”.

It’s quite funny, since contrary to popular belief the virus isn’t sentient, and the situation is much unlike a war, in which there is a physical, visible enemy. The virus isn’t watching all those partying Americans, going ‘Wow, I misjudged these brave Americans; I’m not sure I’m up to this”.

This spring break-over-safety perspective has sparked outrage from those practicing social distancing to help “flatten the curve” of the pandemic that has ruined our current lifestyle. Plenty of people in Italy and Spain were and still are rebelling, though they are now taking more drastic measures to keep people in a line such as arresting those who disobey.

Needless to say, that certainly isn’t the only adverse reaction. What has been on the news for several weeks is the raid on toilet paper and hand sanitizer. Disinfectants, toilet paper, hand sanitizers, soaps, and even certain medicine such as Tylenol have been off the shelves for some time, due to the daunting demands, and the dwindling supply of materials as countries close off travel and trade.

The supply and demand issue is one thing, but what’s worse is that there are people who have decided to take advantage of people’s panic to make a boatload of money. They buy in excess, then sell the goods on Amazon for high prices. People are forced to buy because they are scared to leave their homes and go to stores, which are already out of stock. Criminals have also discovered this fact, and burglaries have been reported around the globe. In Hong Kong, 600 rolls of toilet paper were stolen, valued at $218. In Woolworths, Australia, another 500 were stolen.

With people losing their source of income with all of the business closures, these high prices by profiteers are becoming more of a problem, since people are forced to use their precious savings to buy these products that are considered necessities, though it’s astounding how toilet paper has risen to fame, with similar importance to Catalan such as food and water.

With countries closing off-trade, and businesses being shut down, people are fearing the inevitable layoffs. Companies with a low-profit margin are especially susceptible to the pandemic’s effect on the economy, forcing them to fire employees. 44% of Canadian employees have reported losing their jobs, and out of that 65 % have no way of getting any compensation. Projections show that 3 million more may lose their financial support.

With this being said, the impact on the housing crisis will be large. Banks have already allowed people to avoid paying a mortgage for 6 months, and with 33% of Canadians renting their homes, people are wondering if they will even have a place to live.

The stock market has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with worrying volatility, as traders have panic-sold out of fear. As a result of the recent turmoil, the market-wide circuit-breakers that attempt to prevent panic-trading, have been triggered four times alone in March. The current guidelines mandate a 15-minute pause in trading on all U.S. stock exchanges if the S&P 500 index falls more than 7% before 3:25 p.m. New York time.

The airplane industry is also suffering, with Westjet firing half their workforce,6,900 employees, and Air Canada is also going to provide 600 pilots furlough.

Alongside companies, governments have taken major steps to reduce the impact that Coronavirus will have on their countries. For example, the US government recently partnered with big computing companies in America, such as IBM, Google, AWS and many more to give resources to researchers trying to model the virus and find cures.

Additionally, governments have also mandated social-distancing, where people need to ensure that they don’t come in close contact with others. Countries like China have been on lockdown, where people can only go out to get food or medical help. These ensure that people are unable to spread the virus as quickly as before, and have been effective in bringing the infection rates down. Another interesting case is stamping, which has been used in countries such as India to identify suspected coronavirus cases and people who have them are told to quarantine.

Although this virus keeps raging, people are hard at work trying to contain and cure it. People such as doctors and store-keepers are vital to ensuring that society doesn’t get completely driven to the ground and more people die as a result of these events.

Scientists and researchers are hard at work trying to find potential cures to the virus, but there are also some negatives to this. Social media and news outlets have been both overhyping and misleading people. One such case was when a 60-year-old man died from taking a (currently in testing) chemical that president Trump said was “the future of medicine”.

On the flip side, researchers and scientists have created hundreds of drugs that can soothe the effects of the virus. Favilavir is a drug developed in China and is one of the first approved drugs that could cure it. Another vaccine created by Moderna Therapeutics is currently in clinical trials but will take over a year to get approved. 45 people are currently being tested with the drug and the dosage size.

Insights:

The COVID-19 outbreak has had a massive impact on the world, on businesses, travel, the economy, and a lot more. It has also claimed thousands of lives and destroyed the method of contact between us. Together, we can only mitigate the spread of the virus through a collective effort, with everyone staying inside, not partying or going on vacation, endangering others.

Remember, if every single person globally were to stay at home for 2 weeks, the spread of the pandemic would end. If China could do it, so can the rest of the world.

Part 5: Future Implications

If you’re anybody anywhere right now, you know about the coronavirus. Because of fear-mongering and culture-shocking-cuisine, the social panic has been around for a while — but after being labeled a pandemic, tensions have shot through the roof. With governments advocating for isolation and social distancing, almost (but hopefully) everyone is locked inside their homes.

Masks have been the social phenomenon in response to COVID.

We know first-hand that the virus has significantly impacted our day-to-day lives, but what’s less discussed is COVID’s impact on industries. Current and future implications are both interesting and scary. While countries worry about their economies, consumerism has taken a decrease and employees are scared to go to work. Grocery stores and Chinese restaurants might take up the headlines for those impacted, but several others are prominent as well. Companies are releasing 5G robots as pseudo-hospital-assistants, and subways are being bleached daily.

COVID’s presence is being felt everywhere — and tons of industries need to accommodate.

Let’s take a look at some of them!

Mining

If you think about a field that would be disrupted due to a virus, mining probably wouldn’t be it.

Like most people, miners are being encouraged to wash their hands more frequently and have begun to stockpile masks, cleaning supplies, and restricting access to mine sites. Companies like Barrick Gold Corp. are stockpiling key commodities in fear of price changes, along with the supply and demand for the minerals used to power the global economy.

Mining sites with less employee attendance

“The reality is that it’s going to become quite hard to operate beyond the two weeks” — Grimbeek, President and CEO at Trevali Mining Corporation

Some mining insiders note that contagion at mines poses a high risk because the remote location often means there is limited access to health care.

Supply and Price Changes

Metal analysts have also said there are other long term business risks from continuing to operate during the pandemic, including glut (abundant supply) of various metals. Yet, “In the midst of arguably the single-largest demand shock in our lifetime, the production side of the metals and mining sector, in general, continues to hum along,” David Gagliano, an analyst with BMO Capital Markets.

China is a major consumer of raw materials due to its large manufacturing sector. A drop in Chinese consumption will bring down oil and gas prices. COVID-19 will likely disrupt demand for steel through hindering manufacturing activity or potential closure of Chinese smelters due to quarantine needs, something we are seeing as much more likely in recent days.

Highly Valued Minerals

Precious metals producers are likely to benefit from COVID-19 fears, as risk-averse investors transition into safe-haven assets such as gold, silver, and palladium. In February, gold reached its highest price since March 2013 at over USD 1,600 per ounce.

We may see an acceleration towards the path of autonomous mining, in previous years uptake of automated mine solutions including self-driving haul trucks and remote operations centers has been slow but steady.

Now that the outbreak has made the immediate future of several mining operations around the world uncertain, there may be an increased appeal and demand for solutions to reduce the human workforce at mine sites, if only to prevent future crises from having such a detrimental effect on mining companies.

Medicine

Unsurprisingly, the medical industry is in an important position — they’re key for limiting the pandemic. Many companies have started creating crisis management teams to allow faster decision making, and begun implementing flexible work arrangements for employees. They’ve also started tracking health, travel, and location data for employees to restrict spread.

The largest priority for mitigating impact is strengthening collaboration with local governments and hospitals to help control COVID-19. Companies are also shifting towards digital by investing in online business, implementing new technologies to sustain client services, and speeding up digital transformation. The need for good telemedicine (virtual medicine) is becoming more evident as hospitals begin to suffer strain from patient overload.

Strained hospital in Wuhan

The 3 prominent challenges listed by companies: halt of marketing and sales, market fluctuations due to change in demand, and reduced effectiveness of remote working.

The drop in medical and drug presentations events, as well as people not going to clinics, can be pointed to as the cause. Companies are preparing for impacts on revenue and trying to make revenue forecasts. Many remain unsure, but around 20% believe sales will catch up later this year and another 20% believe revenue may experience a drop of up to 20%.

Systemic Strain

According to several epidemiological studies, we can expect a doubling of cases every 6 days. The U.S. has about 2.8 hospital beds per 1,000 people, with a population of 330 million, this is about 1 million hospital beds. At any given time about 68% of them are occupied, which leaves about 300,000 beds available nationwide. With these numbers, by the end of April we might expect 1 million cases in the US, more than the current system is prepared to handle.

Not to mention if medication shortages occur, people with chronic health conditions that are usually easily managed could find themselves being hospitalized as well. Many people are rushing to make up for a shortage of ventilators and other medical equipment. And although their stockpile of 12 million N95 masks is intended to be single-use only, a Stanford study has found somewhat effective decontamination methods to be used in emergencies.

Technology

Outbreak Prediction

Times of need are also oftentimes of great innovation, but preventative measures tend to be better than reactionary ones. Bluedot managed to do just that by previously predicting the Zika virus to spread to Florida in 2016, 6 months prior. They use NLP (natural language processing) to analyze statements from a variety of sources: official public health organizations, digital media, airline ticketing data, livestock health reports, and population demographics, continuously every 15 minutes.

Bluedot flagged 27 pneumonia cases associated with a market that had seafood and live animals in Wuhan. Additionally, they correctly identified cities highly connected to Wuhan and 11 of the cities at the top of the list were the first to see cases.

Virtual Conferencing

With many places experiencing workforce impacts, many are turning to tech-oriented solutions. HTC hosted the first full VR conference, V2EC. Who needs social distancing if you have VR?

Virtual Conferencing

Drones and Robotics

CloudMinds is deploying robots in hospitals that can clean/disinfect, deliver medicine to patients, and measure temperature. They cost between $17000 to 72000 each and have shown reliability in assisting patients without person-to-person contact. Hospitals are employing infrared thermometry systems to check body temperature as people enter hospitals, alerting medical staff is symptoms are present.

Drones used in agriculture to spray pesticides are being repurposed to spray disinfecting chemicals in the streets of China, which are up to 50 times more efficient that people do manual spraying. Medical samples are being transported via drone, one such case started at the People’s Hospital of Xinchang County, Zhejiang Province and flew to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention 3 km away. It ended up cutting delivery time from 20 minutes down to 6.

Drones are being leveraged for disinfection

Business Impacts

The Big 5: Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, and Facebook, have lost combined $1.3 billion in value since Feb 19. The tech industry, which is worth $3.9 trillion globally, was forecasted to have a 5% growth this year. Right now even a 1% growth would be considered optimistic. With not much else to do, Netflix downloads jumped 66% in Italy, 35% for Spain, and even in the US by 9%. iPhone app sales grew 18 percent to roughly $690 million and Android app sales rose 5 percent to roughly $360 million.

Overall, the workspace is becoming more and more decentralized as companies find ways for employees to do remote work. Whatever can be automated likely will be to reduce the strain on healthcare systems. We may see the rise of VR becoming a much more popular medium as it may replace some in-person events and has advantages only possible in that world.

Economics and Financial Markets

Equally as important, the banking and financial industry is the backbone of the economy. Since a good economy depends on a circular flow of income, as industries start to layoff employees, halt/sell of investments, operate conservatively, and potentially default on loans, they are stopping the flow of the economy.

To encourage other industries to borrow money and to keep the economy afloat, many countries are lowering their interest rate. Doing so allows industries to borrow money at a dramatically lower price.

As workers are losing their jobs or getting hours cut, they are applying for unemployment insurance. There were approximately 500,000 applications for unemployment insurance last week, as opposed to 27,000 applications for the same week in 2019.

Direct Economic Impact

As industries are getting hit, it is obvious that this will show in the financial stock markets. The economy is currently a bear market, where the market has fallen by 20%+. NASDAQ Composite has fallen more than 29% (-2,950 points) and the S&P 500 has fallen more than 33% (-1,130 points). Gold and oil have fallen to all-time lows of $1476 and $26.22 respectively and large companies (GOOGL, AAPL, MSFT, etc.) have lost 20%+ of their market cap. With the uncertainty of this situation and the upcoming 2020 US Presidential Elections, a recession is predicted to occur.

The economy can be described as a bear market

E-commerce

As the public is warned to stay home, people are turning to online shopping (e-commerce) to buy their essentials. Due to social distancing, the influx of shoppers at physical stores has dramatically decreased, while the number of downloads of grocery apps has increased by 218%. In China, the center of the outbreak, 50% of consumers have turned to online shopping with Vietnam and India at 57% and 55% respectively.

E-commerce has seen an increase in customers; particularly for grocery shopping

Although these numbers may seem good for a company’s growth, in the context of the COVID-19, they bring a lot of trouble to self-employed drop-shippers, FBA sellers, Shopify sellers, eBay sellers, and anyone who owns an e-commerce store.

Impact on Suppliers

For a start, these sellers will have delayed shipments to both their facilities and to their customers. For most sellers, shipments that are expected to arrive in 30–35 days can be expected to be late up to 45 days. Due to shipping policies from many transaction-processing companies, customers may appeals and chargebacks, potentially causing the e-commerce store to operate at a loss.

Due to closed borders and restricted air transit from many countries, the supply of air-carried packages has decreased while the demand has increased, shipping costs will cost a premium.

E-commerce stores may decide to pull their ad campaigns on platforms such as Facebook, Google, and Microsoft due to market reactions. Due to layoffs and high unemployment, families will start living conservatively, causing a decrease in general consumer spending. These families will not be looking to buy non-essential items, causing e-commerce stores to pull their ad campaigns from various platforms. All these factors together will greatly cause many e-commerce stores to operate at a loss.

Transportation and Travel

Two more key industries that are reeling from COVID-19 are transportation and travel. These services are essential for several people but have shown to be hotspots for coronavirus transmission.

Risk Levels with Public Transportation

Right now, public health officials are stressing the importance of good hygiene — especially for people who use transit often. This is because the environment of transportation systems makes them susceptible to the spread of COVID; hard surfaces, lots of people, poor ventilation.

Epidemiologists say that the risk of infection on public transportation is difficult to gauge. But reasons to be cautious are valid; a woman who tested positive for COVID-19 was on a bus in Toronto. Interestingly enough though, in NYC, a 2011 study of a possible influenza outbreak found that 4% of transmissions occur on the subway. While the transit ecosystem is vulnerable to coronavirus, certainty around the risk level is unclear.

Protecting Yourself from COVID-19 on Public Transit

Isaac Bogoch (infectious disease specialist) recommends “impeccable hand hygiene” when taking public transit. If you touch hard, high-contact surfaces, don’t touch your face and immediately wash/sanitize your hands. Social distancing is still important as well — keep a 3–6 feet radius from everybody else whenever possible.

There are also systematic measures within the transportation industry being taken to reduce infection. The APTA (American Public Transportation Association) is actively implementing:

• Engineering Controls → separating people from contamination, like barriers between drivers and passengers
• Administrative Controls → training, plans, policies and procedures that reinforce ways to reduce infection
• Personal Protective Equipment → gloves and respiratory protection
• Environmental Hygiene → cleaning of stations, vehicles, and workplaces to minimize surface contamination

This segues into the next important area: the overall transportation industry response to the coronavirus.

Public Transit Response

Alongside the protocols above, APTA has actively been monitoring the impact of COVID throughout the US, providing resources related to transport, and opened an email hotline. Around the world, transportation providers have large responsibilities; preventing the spread of the disease, providing services, managing workforce impacts and providing crisis communication. This is because public transit likely has to continue during this public health emergency — and reasonably accommodate infected people.

Currently, reduction of contact is being implemented highly; less ticket inspection, protected customer service staff and rear-door boarding to protect drivers.

In terms of cleaning, bleach and antiviral treatments are extremely common. In NYC, every subway car, bus, or commuter train is disinfected with bleach ever 72 hours — although the mayor discourages ridership.

Meanwhile, San Francisco, LA, Seattle, Boston, and Chicago are wiping down buses and subways with disinfectants. Their transit systems carry about 405, 000 daily riders on average each weekday … and ridership has dropped 9% percent. On the global level, Transit usage has collapsed in China after travel restrictions.

Speaking of travel…

The Risk of Travelling

Risk levels for the travel industry are estimated to be much higher and are easier to gauge — considering big airports and cruise ships are crowded areas with people from all walks of life. Because of this, revenue losses have been massive. The International Air Transport Association estimates that the industry could lose up to $113b in revenue this year. Additionally, according to China’s Ministry of Transport, there were 79.5% fewer travel trips this Lunar New Year than last time.

Travel Industry Response

We now know the effect from a consumer’s standpoint is pretty noticeable — but what’s less known is how the industry’s been responding.

For America, the TSA recently put out a map of airports where TSA officers have tested positive for COVID. As of March 22, there have been 24 cases.

24 infected TSA officers as of Mar. 22 across America

They’re now allowing one hand sanitizer container (up to 12 ounces) in carry-ons until further notice as well. Also, the CDC released this health alert:

Health alert for travelers from CDC

In Canada, governmental measures for travel have been uniquely drastic. A pandemic health notice has been released to all Canadians, with cruise travel being highly discouraged (hotspots for COVID activity). However, imports and delivery services that require travel will continue. If you choose to travel for other reasons, while discouraged overall, social distancing is highly promoted.

As for other countries, some are banning travel (Somalia), and some highly discourage inessential trips (UK, Canada). On a business level, Emirates has suspended most passenger flights because of the pandemic, while United Airlines is operating some to help displaced customers get back to the US.

Leisure, Hospitality, Tourism

As travel and public events are restricted (and even banned), the leisure, hospitality, and tourism industry have seen a dramatic drop in revenue. With the flooding cancellations coming in, hotel occupancy rates have dropped a whopping 72.1% with room rates dropping to an average of $188.59. Some hotel chains have even been converted into emergency safe spaces to house homeless people.

Hospitality

Hotels have been reducing their staff by up to 80% and an estimated 23% of hotels in BC have already been closed. Staff members have quit due to COVID-19 fears, and according to Ingrid Jarrett, CEO, and President of BC Hotel Association, if COVID persists to the summer, approximately 30% of businesses will be closed. As hotels and vacations are seen as a luxury, it will take a while for everything to normalize.

Reduced customers for hotels due to COVID and reduced global tourism

Tourism

Countries in Europe and Asia-Pacific that are dependant on tourism (7–20% of GDP) are seeing a slowdown in their economies. With social distancing measures in place, people have stopped eating out, causing restaurants, bars, and eateries to lose revenue. Those who work as guides in museums, parks, and in the city have lost their jobs. Chinese tourists generate $2B annually in Canada, but with the ongoing COVID-19 situation, Tourism Minister Melanie Joly has said revenue is now expected to be only $550M.

Food Service

In India, restaurants saw approximately a 20% reduction in footfall in the first week of March. Restaurants have also seen a drop in revenue of up to 45% with large restaurant chains (such as McDonald’s), losing 21.7% of daily visits. Restaurants are seeing a very complex problem since employees are unable to work at home. Luckily, one of the precautions that restaurants are using is the denial of handing cash-transactions. Starbucks has even removed all furniture in their locations to discourage customers from staying and waiting in the store.

Tons of industries that people rely on are drastically being affected by the coronavirus. In summary, it’s important to maintain good hand hygiene, minimize social interaction, not touch common surfaces and stay home. While the economy and businesses are vastly being impacted, the health of you matters more. So stay safe, and stay cautious.

Key takeaways

• The mining industry is stockpiling items and demand is fluctuating
• Technology, the economy, and the medical industry are uniquely important
• BlueDot is leveraging AI for outbreak prediction, CloudMinds are deploying 5G robots for hospital assistance
• Transportation and travel systems face constant disinfection and potential closure, but need to stay open in most communities.
• Avoiding transit if possible is recommended, however, taking transit with cautious and isolative behavior minimizes risk.
• Hotel staffing and restaurant visits have drastically decreased
• Maintain good hand hygiene and socially distance yourself!

Part 6: People + Reactions

Unless you live under a rock, chances are you’ve heard about the COVID-19 outbreak.

At first, it seemed like a small little issue. Then, Wuhan, China underwent lockdown. Instead of analyzing the problem and looking at the solutions, we should undertake, we decided to storm our Costco’s looking for toilet paper and hand sanitizer, all while continuing to hang out with all our friends and family.

The amount of people suffering from COVID-19 has grown exponentially (worldwide stats)

Maybe not the smartest decision… That’s not something that we can change now. The only thing we can do is adapt to the situation we’re in now.

Before we get into what we should be doing and why it’s important to look at what’s currently happening.

So… How exactly have we handled the situation?

For this section, I’ll be sticking to how Canada’s reacted. Of course, other countries have responded in drastically different ways. More on that here 😉

Government

As of March 25th, 2020, Canada’s government has allocated approx. $1.101 billion in funding for COVID-19. However, their response can be divided into three main categories; Economic security, public health, and international aid.

Where COVID-19’s funding is going 🤩

Public Health

Canada’s government has taken a variety of measures to ensure that it’s residents are in a position to be preventing the virus.

Closing borders

As of March 18th, 2020, Canada’s borders are restricted for ‘all foreign nationals coming from any country other than the United States’. These restrictions will last until June 30th, 2020 and refer to non-essential travel. (Essential would be for transportation of goods and for those that require crossing the border to work).

Any international flights that are essential-have now shifted to four major airports:

• Calgary International Airport
• Vancouver International Airport
• Toronto Pearson Airport
• Pierre-Elliot Trudeau International airport

After travel, travelers are asked to self-isolate for 14 days in the case that they have come into contact with COVID-19.

Issuing Public Guidance

The Government of Canada is working closely with provincial governments to provide advice on how to react to the pandemic. As of right now:

• All public schools across the country have been closed. Certain provinces have chosen to close indefinitely until September, whereas others like Ontario, have yet to conclude how long their closures are expected to last.
• All governments remain open.
• In most provinces, bars, casinos, and other similar activities have closed. In Manitoba, Yukon, and Saskatchewan these remain open but have restrictions applied to them.
• All prisons are closed except for those in Manitoba. Prison visit rules here have also not changed.
• Other than in New Brunswick, all daycare facilities are closed (enforced by the government)

For the full list of closures click here.

Research Investment

As of March 13th, $27 million was invested in research of the novel coronavirus, which will be allocated to 47 research teams across Canada. The government of Canada plans on investing a further $275 million in funding for vaccine and antiviral development + their clinical trials.

Economic Security

• The Government of Canada is currently introducing changes to the ‘Work-Sharing’ Program to help employers who are losing business as a result of the virus. This estimated to cost around $12 million.
• The one-week waiting period for individuals who are in quarantine waiting to claim Employment Insurance sickness benefits will be waived. This is estimated to cost around $5 million
• If credit conditions are tightened, the government will increase investment in federal lending agencies such as the Business Development Bank of Canada and Export Development Canada. This money is available as a result of the 2008–2009 financial crisis, where a partnership with the crown and private sector financial institutions provided $11 billion of additional credit support to 10 000 firms.

Note: These measures are as of March 25th, 2020. At the time of reading, the government may have invoked more iniatives.

International Aid + Collaboration

• The Government of Canada has contributed $2 million to the World Health Organization (WHO) intending to aid vulnerable countries. An additional $50 million is planned on being contributed
• 16 tonnes of personal protective equipment to have been contributed to China
• The government of Canada is working alongside the European Medicines Agency and the United States Food and Drug Administration to coordinate rapid regulatory responses for vaccines and other medical countermeasures.

Businesses

• Restaurants have either closed down or now become “take-out” restaurants. Access to their food is either through drive-through or delivery.
• Airline companies have suspended most routes and are facing large reductions of staff. Examples of this can be seen with Emirates, which has reduced its destinations from 145 to 13 countries, and with Air Canada, who has laid off almost 5000 attendants as a result of COVID-19.
• Grocery stores are suffering from excess panic buying. Yes, this includes toilet paper and hand sanitizer 🤦‍♀️. Producers are now under immense pressure to fulfill consumer demand.
• Businesses that are marked as ‘non-essential’ are closed in certain districts.
• There is a high influx of people working from home.

For more on the impact on businesses, click here.

Hospitals

Hospitals are working around the clock dealing with COVID-19 cases. Medical professionals and those working in the hospital (i.e. janitors, technicians) are risking their lives every day to ensure that individuals are recovering.

However, as the cases increase, hospitals are shifting their focus to curing individuals that have the virus over those who are facing other medical problems.

Certain hospitals are also at risk of running out of supplies. In New York, hospitals are “just 9 days away from running out of basic supplies to treat patients with the virus.” (March 25th, 2020). This is not as big of a problem yet in less impacted areas but has the potential to severely impact most healthcare facilities.

Hospital workers have been working around the clock to help us stay safe 💖

Individuals

Unfortunately, our response to the novel coronavirus as a collective whole hasn’t been the greatest. We’ve seen two big trends come out of this:

Panic Buying

It’s a scary time, and as sort of a coping mechanism, individuals are panic buying supplies they think they will need. The common ones we see people stocking up on are toilet paper, masks, and hand sanitizer.

Lot’s of memes have come out of these actions lol

This overconsumption of resources is leading to at-risk groups not being to obtain basic supplies for themselves. The elderly in particular are being severely impacted by this.

Racism

Patient Zero of COVID-19 was a Chinese individual, and as a result of this, we’ve seen a spike in racism and xenophobia towards those of Asian descent.

Asian-dominated businesses are being avoided, individuals are being verbally and physically assaulted, and there is a large area of dissonance and division. There is no reason to engage in these behaviors, but, here we are 😕.

Why should we even care about reacting properly?

Reacting properly is the difference between a mass amount of people being infected and sustainable decreases in growth. Reacting properly ensures we can minimize the number of people suffering from the virus.

Flattening the Curve

Flattening the curve is a concept in which we can change the exponential growth of the virus into flatlined growth.

Flattening the curve helps us maintain hospital capacity

Flattening the curve requires the implementation of frameworks and initiatives to reduce the number of people being impacted daily.

This is the most sustainable way to flatline COVID-19 growth.

🤔 So, how should we be reacting?

Everyone needs to play their part. As a community, we need to be working to minimize the spread of this disease, and prevent it as much as possible. So what can we do?

Individually

COVID-19 used to only have one person infected. Now, it’s growing exponentially. This is because even though precautions have been put in place, people are still undergoing non-essential travel, hanging out with friends, and going out in public.

Social distancing is key 🔑. At times like this, it’s important to take a blast from the past and see what other measures were taken on the global scale previously, and analyze which ones can be implemented into our lives.

In 1918, the Spanish Flu killed an estimated 50–100 million people. That’s not a small number. During this pandemic, in September of 1918, US cities were planning parades to promote ‘liberty bonds’, which would help pay for the war effort in Europe.

In Philadelphia, city chiefs decided to go ahead with their parade even though 600 soldiers were already infected. During this time, St. Louis, Missouri, decided to cancel their parades and introduced systems were public gatherings were limited.

Within a month, 10 000 Philadelphians had died from the Spanish flu, while the death toll in St. Louis stayed below 700. Similarly, other cities around the U.S. during this time who implemented some sort of social distancing measures had significantly lower death and infection rates than those who didn’t.

Social distancing works. More social distancing = fewer cases = this could potentially end earlier 🤯

But what exactly does social distancing entail?

In a nutshell:

Social distancing refers to taking the measures necessary to minimize close contact with others.

This could mean:

• Only going out when it is essential, ex. for food or medication
• Staying at least two meters apart from other people
• Working from home if possible
• If you need to go out, leaving your living space during non-peak hours
• Not hosting/attending social gatherings

Now, we’re hardwired to crave human connection. For most of us, social distancing is hard. But is that one hangout worth getting infected, or becoming a carrier and infecting a high-risk group? No.

If you have to go out, greet people like this 😉

Instead of going out with others, here are some alternatives:

• Exercise!! Now is a great time to get your summer body 😉. Even better, exercise can help your immunity, something that’s critical in a time like this. There’s no downfall from doing an ab workout or two.
• FaceTime/Video chat with your friends. Social distancing is physical, but there’s no reason to stop interacting with other human beings. Isolation can bring you into a darker state, but keeping that sense of having a community around you can help aid with loneliness.
• Learn a new skill. You’re spending the majority of your day at home, why not take that physics course you’ve always wanted to take, or try out some new recipes?
• Meditate. It’s a super useful tool for clearing your head, easing with stress, and helping with depression. Similarly, you could also take this time to journal and reflect. Use this as an opportunity for growth 📈.

Another really important thing to consider is preventing the virus by staying clean. Disinfecting your devices, sanitizing your surrounding environment, and washing your hands is a must.

And by washing your hands, I don’t mean shoving your fists under a stream of water for five seconds and shaking the water off. The proper handwashing procedure is twenty seconds with soap and water, and then drying them off. To keep track of the time, sing the alphabet song twice (or if you’re feeling frisky, do it backward 🤯).

Here’s what not to do:

• Avoid touching your face. If the virus somehow ends up coming into contact with your hands, touching your eyes, nose, mouth, or ears is providing the virus with a pathway for entering the body.
• Do not travel. Right now, the best approach we can take in preventing the virus, and this is done by minimizing spread. If you’re experiencing symptoms of flu or fever, do not leave your living space. If you are fine, avoid all unnecessary travel.
• Avoid panic. Buying 50 packs of toilet paper does not equal COVID-19 immunity 🤦‍♀️. Only taking what you need will allow for individuals like the elderly and medical professionals to access resources as well 🔑.

Locally

Now that we’ve established what we can individually do, how should our cities be reacting?

Keeping cities in lockdown is ultimately the best direction to take. Although it sounds scary, this will help minimize the amount of contact of people with each other, and in turn, slow down the growth of COVID-19.

If you are sick, know where and when to call in. Inform yourself of what places you should be contacted so that you can avoid going to hospitals. This will help reduce the chances of the virus spreading to other individuals in your city. If you do not have any symptoms, avoid testing so that other people in your locality can access these resources.

Follow the news. Being aware of what is happening around your city and enacting the steps that the municipal, provincial, and federal government recommend will keep you, your family, and your friends safe.

Nationally

Keep the country in lockdown. this will help minimize the contact of people with each other, hence the slower increment rate of the COVID-19.

Speed up the research process in labs. A big thing that happens in labs is that people work very slowly and the problem with that is it takes more time to find a medicine towards a virus. Every day, every second longer it takes to find a cure to the virus, more people get affected by it and can die.

Globally

Okay, big boy time. COVID-19 is a pandemic, and on a global scale, we need to be taking drastic measures to prevent it’s spread and prevent this from happening again.

Borders must remain closed. Closing borders will prevent the virus from becoming more airborne than it already is. Closing borders will also help prevent unaffected individuals from getting the virus.

Information should not be hoarded. Countries need to be open to sharing resources and practices. China currently has no new cases of COVID-19, and so, their precautionary measures should be released. Countries should not be afraid of collaboration.

We’re living through a key event in history. It’s a concept that’s insane to think about. Our actions will set in a precedent for pandemics that follow after this one.

This stuff is serious, and although it’s heavy, reacting properly is critical for minimizing the impact of COVID-19. We need to be investing resources, time, and people into this issue.

The question now is, will you react properly and help flatten the curve, or will you be on the wrong side of history?

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Social distancing is critical to minimizing the spread of the virus and to flatten the curve. It’s been proven to work before 😍
• Lockdowns and border shutdowns, although scary, are the right precaution to take
• Responding via individual panic and hostility is not the way to be approaching COVID-19. Hoarding resources and supplies only impact the vulnerable
• COVID-19 is a serious issue, and taking the proper actions now, will save us a lot of trouble in the future.

Ending Notes

Hey! Nice to see you reached the end of this huge handbook, which certainly takes some dedication.

With this newfound knowledge, you can make sure you stay safe, and help others too. Who knows, maybe you could help make masks for your local hospital, create more awareness of the importance of staying indoors, and maybe even be the person to eradicate it.

The power is, after all, in your hands.

This article was created as a joint project by a group of young innovators from “The Knowledge Society”, a human accelerator program for youth looking to make a lasting impact in the world with exponential technology. Click here to learn more about the insane things we are doing :))