LIVING WELL
The novel
CORONAVIRUS awareness and preparedness without the panic BY ROB SAINT LAURENT, M.Ed.
S
ince the first case of the disease, now known as COVID-19, was confirmed in the Chinese city of Wuhan last December, the novel coronavirus has put the world on edge. As of February 13, assuming the numbers coming from China are trustworthy, Johns Hopkins University’s real-time novel coronavirus tracker indicates more than 60,000 people have been infected globally, with some 99 percent of cases in China, and nearly 1,400 fatalities—exceeding both the 2003 SARS and 2019 MERS coronavirus outbreaks.1 Thus far, the virus has spread to almost 30 other nations and at least one cruise ship where 23 Americans are infected. In the U.S., 46 | MARCH 2020 | NEW ENGLAND NEWS + MEDIA
there are currently 15 confirmed cases, including a 20-somethingyear-old-man in Massachusetts who remains in isolation after seeking immediate medical attention upon returning from Wuhan. While there have been just two related fatalities outside of China thus far, a local state of emergency has been declared in California’s Santa Clara County in response to an original false negative report on a man returning from Wuhan. The disease continues to dominate headlines, particularly after it was declared a public health emergency by both the World Health Organization (WHO) and U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS). As the chaos continues, some are questioning whether the fear being created is more dangerous than the disease itself.
