With the recent tension in the health world and in our world, there has been a sudden panic about the situation regarding COVID-19 (Coronavirus). In my opinion many journalists, people and news outlets have blown the entire situation out of proportion. 

According to the Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program “On the other hand, this particular strain of Coronavirus is brand new, and new things that are not well understood are far more frightening than old things that are well understood”. 

This means that since this is a new strain that is foreign to us, it is more frightening to us because it is unknown. Also, according to the New York Times they state “The flu kills roughly 35,000 Americans every year. This season, it has already sickened an estimated 15 million Americans and killed 8,200,” the COVID-19 is just another strain of influenza. 

We have been dealing with this since the beginning of civilization. So there’s no need to panic about a disease that has been present for over hundreds of years. It just happens that a new strain has come into the fold and it will be solved and cured just like the other ones. 

I feel that many are scared due to what they are seeing on the news and based off of what other people are saying. I also feel that the situation shouldn’t be taken lightly as well. In the past few weeks I have seen many jokes and memes being made regarding Coronavirus which I think is terrible. 

Thankfully, there are steps that can be taken that will ensure and lower the chances of you catching the virus. Make sure that you always wash your hands, keep your hands away from your face and your mouth, avoid close contact with people who are sick and avoid travel to areas where cases of the virus have been reported as much as possible.