Correction: The word “unfazed” was initially misspelt in the first edition of this article.
Students at Long Beach City College remain unfazed by the deadly coronavirus that has plagued China and has now reached a man in Orange County, Calif., a mere 25 miles away.
According to the OC Register, as of Feb. 1, 2020, the man in reference was released from the hospital in good health, and continues to recover in isolation.
Meanwhile, a new case of coronavirus has arisen in San Diego.
Other people, like Dr. Li Wenliang of Wuhan, China, who originally warned of the virus, have fallen victim to the disease and the coronavirus has now claimed 1,870 lives and counting.
How dangerous is the new strain of coronavirus, and should LBCC students and faculty show more concern than they are currently?
LBCC’s Program Director for Nursing, Sigrid Sexton, talked about the need for precautions and awareness.
“We’re likely to have more of these diseases coming up in the years to come, so we need to know how to react as a community,” Sexton said.
Sexton also talked about the importance of not panicking and remaining informed and educated.
According to LBCC’s Anatomy and Microbiology professor Anthony Fay, the virus is of “zoonotic,” or animal origin.
“Lots of mechanisms are involved in zoonosis. That process is difficult, but it can happen where you have more animals and people interacting,” Fay said.
“Theoretically, the virus has been shown to pass person to person, but in comparison to other diseases, it doesn’t pose a more significant threat than the yearly flu cycle.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated the death toll of the flu to be between 12,000 and 61,000 from 2017-2018 alone, making it deadlier than the novel coronavirus to date.
Only time will tell whether the coronavirus is a deadlier outbreak than the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome pandemic in 2003, which affected 8,000 people with a 10% mortality rate according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Sexton explained the case for coronavirus is “a little scarier” than the SARS outbreak.
“I do think forward about situations like this, and everytime outbreaks happen we get practice on what to do,” Sexton said.
Health officials have been aware of flu viruses and older types of coronavirus long before this strain.
The diseases have remained predictable in terms of flu season dates, symptoms, and have been manageable with vaccines.
However, this particular strain of coronavirus remains unpredictable, with no vaccine available.
If a case of coronavirus was to appear in Long Beach, Sexton is confident that procedures like drive-thru immunizations, vaccines, and other resources would be made available by the Long Beach Health Department to combat the issue.
In January, the Long Beach Health Department released a press release urging community members to get vaccinated while offering free flu vaccines at clinics throughout Long Beach.
This was following the first confirmed flu-related death of a male resident of Long Beach in his 50s.
“I know that our public health system is doing its best to respond to this world emergency,” Sexton said.
As far as prevention for both the flu and the novel coronavirus, handwashing is among the most important, according to both Fay and Sexton.
“I generally discourage my students from using too much hand sanitizer, especially 10-12 times a day. Hand sanitizer kills healthy bacteria on your hand that keeps you healthy, and can make you more susceptible to flu,” Fay said.
Sexton explained “droplet precautions” should be taken into consideration, as the flu and coronavirus can spread through sneezing or coughing from person to person.
“If you’re more than three feet away from someone [while they are sneezing, coughing, or speaking] you’ll remain pretty safe,” Sexton said.
The Student Health Department at LBCC offers resources for students: low-cost immunizations for the common flu, Hep B, MMR, Td and Tdap vaccine, free over the counter medication, and also free health care referrals to keep students safe.
Though coronavirus has shown up U.S., students and faculty members feel they are not in harm’s way and find the media’s coverage more of an issue than the virus itself.
LBCC student Serena Sao talked about the cultural stigma surrounding the coronavirus and Asian Americans.
“I think it’s really sad that this illness is spreading not just in China but other countries. Physical issues concerning the body and also social issues are coming up… Thinking all Asian Americans are connected to the coronavirus, whether they’re Chinese or not. We should be more socially conscious and not judge others.”
Professor Fay also talked about the political climate of China and how it correlates to the coronavirus stigma.
“You have economics and politics within China itself that can make the coronavirus appear much of a bigger threat than it really is, especially in cities like Los Angeles that are far from the epicenter of the disease.”
According to an article from NBC News that was published today, the CDC has advised Americans to prepare for a coronavirus outbreak, regarding it as inevitable and posing the question as to exactly when it will happen.