This 3D view of a COVID-19 virus specimen shows an illustration of the structure of this particular coronavirus. With its high infection rate and a significant death rate among those who are infected, particularly the elderly, this runs the risk of becoming one of the most lethal disease outbreaks of the 21st century. (GETTY)

This One Science Lesson Shows How Isolation Can Stop The COVID-19 Coronavirus

Now is not the time to panic. But it’s the perfect time to get informed.

The typical human body is made out of some 10²⁸ atoms distributed across approximately 100 trillion cells. And yet, it only takes one infectious pathogen to get past our immune system’s defenses to put our lives at risk. In the case of the COVID-19 coronavirus, this life-threatening epidemic is rapidly spreading throughout the world. And yet the simplest defense, from a public health standpoint, is simple and straightforward: isolation.

It’s hard to understand, for most people, why such an extreme measure would need to be taken. But there’s a simple experiment you can perform — suitable even for a classroom full of young children — that demonstrates just how quickly a disease can spread without isolation, but how swiftly it can be contained with it. All you need is:

Today In: Science

• a large number of cups of water,
• a small amount of a strong base (like lye), and
• an eyedropper full of a good indicator, like phenolphthalein.