Since the appearance of the very first case of coronavirus in the United States, it wasn’t long until reports spoke of several infections coming through into the population. Since then, the rate has steadily increased.
Experts worry about the rate of spread the coronavirus has acquired in the country. If the cases were to continue the US would have more than a quarter of all deaths recorded globally.
If people abide by the rules and avoid partaking in social activities and limiting their outside exposure under social distancing guidelines, the spread could safely be slowed down.
If measures are not slowing the virus down, the deadly virus will continue to peak its spread for months. To better explain why this would happen, we can explain using the example of a fake disease simulating throughout the population.
If disease A spreads faster than coronavirus when a healthy individual meets an infected person the healthy person contracts the infection and thus in a group of just 6 or 7 people it would not take very long for the infection to spread.
People however in real life do recover from infections and do not further spread it if they have recovered and might not get sick again.
If we are to suppose the spread of virus A is happening in a place of 200 people, with only one infected person, you will eventually notice on a graph representing sick vs healthy individuals that the sick people quickly top the curve and only taper the curve slowly once some people recover from the virus.
Consider a country like the United States with its booming population of 330 million people, as the virus has begun to spread the curve for the USA will be very steep for a long time before the spread begins to slow down and people are seen to recover.
The popularly implemented measure of a complete lockdown like that observed in the Chinese province, Hubei, it proved impossible to completely implement by experts.
The former health commissioner for the city of Baltimore, Leana Wen explains that forced lockdowns are impractical in various ways.
Several questions would need answering if one is thought to be placed. She explains limitations like people who are employed in one country but have family that resides in another, how long could people be separated from their homes and families, not every road could be blocked and then the question of transporting supplies will further complicate the situation.
Lockdowns with severe restrictions are far few and rarely effective says Lawrence O. Gostin, a professor of global health law at Georgetown
Health officials have proposed alternative solutions to the population on the theory that if coronavirus has less viable targets to infect, its spread will slow down. They emphasize that people should avoid gathering in public, keep to their own homes, maintain safe social distancing, and limit their mobility.
There will always be a group of people, who don’t adhere to public health measures and rules, they might have employers to consider, obligations or are simply refusing official warnings. These people risk being the susceptible targets for the spread of Covid-19
Experts like Drew Harris, a population health researcher and assistant professor at The Thomas Jefferson University College of Public Health, explain why measures like closing down restaurants and recreational spots for social gatherings prove effective, he says when there are no opportunities for people to meet each other and gather in numbers, people will maintain social distancing.
One person’s irresponsibility can cause millions of people globally an infection that might result in death. With the elderly at great risk in our population, social distancing only makes sense to stop this exponential growth.
