The coronavirus first surfaced in China in late 2019. It is said that it surfaced in Chinese seafood and poultry, in the city of Wuhan. The first cases of the virus became known after cases of pneumonia appeared in China. By January 2020, the virus started to get known by the rest of the world, although it didn’t look like much of a threat.
I remember when I first heard of the virus. It was through Instagram, on a video of a Chinese man eating bat soup. The caption was borderline racist, as they were blaming Chinese people for the emergence of COVID-19. Everyone quickly began to make jokes about the situation, as no one had a clue how serious and scary it would get for everyone.
By late January, they started to confirm cases in different countries, and shortly after Wuhan went into lockdown in order to stop the disease from spreading. A global health emergency was declared, and panic was slowly beginning, as travel from China was restricted and tourists in the country were being sent back to their own countries.
Throughout the month of February, more cases began to appear and some deaths caused by the coronavirus started to occur in many countries. The coronavirus got the name of COVID-19, and people began to become more aware of the issue, although most people carried on with their normal lives. By late February, Iran and Italy had a very major surge in coronavirus cases, and Italy went on lockdown. The virus had then spread to most places in the world, including South America, while in Europe cases of the virus were increasing rapidly.
March was the month in which everyone began to really understand the severity of the situation, and measures began to be taken by different countries in order to slow the spread of the virus and save lives. This was when I started to worry about the situation, as the problem was no longer far away from us, it was present in our lives and it became our problem, it became a global pandemic.
More countries began to be put on lockdown, including France and Spain. In Spain, the situation began to resemble that of Italy, as more people were becoming infected and the death toll was increasing. Everyone began to panic, as the supermarkets were empty and people wore gloves and masks in public. Everyone was travelling back to their homes, including university students and tourists.
Most schools are now closed everywhere in the world. The UK was put on lockdown as of the night of the 23rd of March 2020. China has started to go back to normal, as they were able to combat the cases of the virus during their three month lockdown. The situation in Italy is critical, while Spain is simply following it with nearly 40000 confirmed cases. Iran is helpless as they keep getting more and more confirmed cases, but their sanitary system cannot cope with the pandemic.
Everyone is concerned, as people die every day in different parts of the world due to the deadly virus. People are advised to stay at home and practise social distancing. The global economy is deteriorating, while governments have to spend billions on trying to stop the virus and help vulnerable people on their death beds.
This is the moment for everyone to unite. We need to support each other and help those in need, as the virus is a threat to everyone and all their loved ones. If people unite, it is possible to win the combat against the virus.
This is our chance to appreciate the world we live in, and give the Earth a break from pollution. While we stay at home, our planet can get the chance to breathe again, while we get the chance to relax and enjoy the little things in life before we go back to our routine.
Hopefully, we will go back to normal shortly, but become aware of the value of life and the people around us. We should all take this chance to better ourselves while the global pandemic gets resolved.
El blog de Melina 