Coronavirus Leads to Closures, Confusion

Alex Hartman
March 20, 2020

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) has already led to many school closures, multiple quarantines in different countries, and widespread panic around the world.

According to the CDC in the United States there are 10,442 confirmed cases and 150 total confirmed deaths from COVID-19. In Colorado, there are 277 total confirmed cases but 3,000 people have been tested for this including 500 people on Wednesday, Mar. 18.

Governor Jared Polis already closed all public schools until April 17. Unfortunately, this has brought about a lot of confusion about what last few months of the school year will look like.

Prom has a big possibility of being cancelled, and students are trying to learn new material without face-to-face interaction. However, because of our status as a New Tech Partner, this transition is expected to go more smoothly than at other schools in the district.

Many people argue that COVID-19 is no more serious than the flu. However, as LiveScience reports, most people globally are immune to Influenza strains, and the flu only kills about 1% of the people that it infects. Conversely, the Coronavirus in its short lived life has killed 3.4% of the people that it has infected.

Illustration of COVID-19 morphology
This illustration, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reveals ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. Note the spikes that adorn the outer surface of the virus, which impart the look of a corona surrounding the virion, when viewed electron microscopically. A novel coronavirus, named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China in 2019. The illness caused by this virus has been named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Provided by CDC/ Alissa Eckert, MS; Dan Higgins, MAMS