This is just one essay on coronavirus from the vast collection carefully curated by Wow Essays. This example is here for academic purposes only. For medical information, turn to the official Health Care resources!
COVID-19, or coronavirus disease, is a highly infectious disease caused by the novel (newly discovered) virus of the Corona family. The first cases were registered in the Chinese city of Wuhan late in 2019 (hence the “19” in the name), but soon through human-to-human transmission, the virus spread globally causing the pandemic.
The majority of people who contract COVID-19 will experience mild to moderate respiratory symptoms and fever similar to the ones brought about by flue and will recover without requiring medical help. However, the elderly and people with some underlying conditions might develop serious complications, down to the fatal outcome.
What’s up with the masks?
The most dangerous aspect of coronavirus disease is its high contagiousness. The number of infected people spikes explosively and the medical facilities become overwhelmed with patients who need medical care to survive, including mechanical ventilation of lungs. Another dangerous aspect is that infected people might experience no symptoms whatsoever, but keep infecting others they contact with.
According to the information on the official World Health Organization website, “[the] virus spreads primarily through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes” (WHO, 2020).
That is why one of the most effective ways of slowing the spread of the coronavirus down is respiratory etiquette: covering your face with a tissue when you sneeze, coughing into a flexed elbow instead of your hands (to avoid spreading the virus via the surfaces you touch), and wearing a face mask.
The necessity of a face mask has been a subject of heated disputes. Some argue it has little to no effect and even imply that the whole thing was invented either to sell more masks or even to “normalize face covering” in our culture in a sneaky way. Meanwhile, others reverently believe in its protective power and stash surgical masks in their closets contributing to the shortage.
What the mask can and cannot do
The answer lies, as usual, in the understanding of how things work. Surgical masks are not an impenetrable shield; their protection has its limitations. However, depending on the particular mask and the material it’s made of, it can reduce the amount of infectious bioaerosols by 6-fold on average, with maximum efficiency being a 55-fold reduction (Makison Booth et al., 2013)
Of course, there are cases when mask protection fails:
There are also cases, when masks are simply unnecessary, for example, if you are out in the open air and keep a safe distance from other people.
However, if you are contacting a person who has or might have contracted COVID-19 or going into an enclosed space with other people, the mask is an essential means of individual protection that curbs the risk of infection.
What is more important, the mask not only protects you from the saliva droplets spread by people around you. It is even more efficient in holding your own bioaerosols back and preventing you from passing the infection on, even if you aren’t yet aware of being infected. Therefore, if you are experiencing respiratory symptoms, you should wear a mask when you visit the store, the hospital, or simply go about your business and contact other people. This is just civil and responsible behavior.
Should you wear a mask amidst the coronavirus outbreak? Ultimately, it’s up to you. Yet while making a decision to wear it or not to wear it, you should weigh not only your own safety but also the safety of others around you.
- World Health Organization (23-04-2020), Coronavirus overview. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus
- Makison Booth, C., Clayton, M., Crook, B. & Gawn, J. M. (2013) “Effectiveness of surgical masks against influenza bioaerosols”. Journal of Hospital Infection, 84 (1), 22-26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhin.2013.02.007
How about some other COVID-19 Essay Topics?
This is just one sample, but the effects of the coronavirus outbreak are profound and multipronged. Therefore, you might be willing to explore other aspects of coronavirus and its impact on our life. Here are some of the COVID essay topic examples we suggest for you:
- Coronavirus Disease is a Wakeup Call for Humanity to End Brutality Against Animals
- Pandemic Essay: Could Algorithms Predict the Spread of Viruses and Help Us Stop Future Pandemics?
- Quarantine Essay: Will Negative Effects of the Lockdown Outweigh the Benefits?
- Is Mechanical Ventilation Effective in Treating COVID-19 Patients?
- Why Some Doctors Say that Intubating COVID Patients is Catch-22?
- Who are the most vulnerable to COVID-19?
- Coronavirus Outbreak And Population Density: What Ecology Can Tell Us About Future Risks
- Some People Cannot Afford to Quarantine: Coronavirus Lays Bare The Wealth Gap in the USA and the World
- Coronavirus and Conspiracy Theories: From Secret Weapon to Bureaucratic Hoax
- The Role of Preparedness Subculture in the Stocking Up Frenzy Amidst Coronavirus Outbreak
- Why Bats Are Overrepresented as Natural Reservoir for Viruses?
- COVID-19 Impact of Global Economy
- Coronavirus and Racism: Why Asian Americans are Stigmatized Because of COVID-19
- Social Distancing and Mental Health
- Negligence to Overreaction: How Countries Around the World React to Novel Coronavirus Challenge
- How SARS‑CoV‑2 is Different from Other Zoonoses
- Wet Markets: Traditional Practice or Hazard for Humanity
- Coronavirus Myths: Why They Spread Even Faster Than the Virus
- What Our Reaction to Coronavirus Tells Us About Our Humanity
- Why Corona Death Toll Differs So Widely From Country to Country?
- The Impact of Comorbidity on Coronavirus Patients
- How Can We Plan Health Facilities and Medical Logistics for Future Pandemics
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