Keywords:  corona virus, coronavirus, covid, covid-19 Introduction

The novel coronavirus spreading the COVID 19 disease first appeared in Wuhan, China, in 2019 and quickly spread around the world.  The infectious disease is a new form of a previous severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS) and has led to nationwide lockdowns from the East to the West.  This paper will discuss the signs and symptoms of COVID 19, the cause of the virus, prevention and management strategies currently being employed to help contain and stop the spread of what is now a pandemic, the epidemiology of the disease, and how it has impacted society and culture.

Signs and Symptoms

One of the more mysterious characteristics of COVID 19 is that one can be a carrier of the coronavirus and yet be completely asymptomatic (Chen et al., 2020).  Those who do exhibit signs of infection tend to have flu-like symptoms, especially if the person is already suffering from prior health issues.  Symptoms can range from fever to cough to breathing difficulties, muscle pain, headache, confusion, loss of energy, sore throat, chest pain, and even nausea (Chen et al., 2020).  Pneumonia can quickly develop in patients if not treated right away.

However, because cases of the virus are still being studied, there is no clear cut analysis of what symptoms are readily linked with COVID 19.  Some who present experience chest pain and palpitations.  Others have shortness of breath.  Still others show no signs of infection or symptoms at all and would not even be clinically diagnosed as having COVID 19 for that reason—though they are still being counted as infected persons by most media outlets (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2015).  By far the most common symptoms are fever, cough and fatigue, and it is as of yet unclear what percentage of the population may carry the virus without ever showing symptoms at all.

Cause

Speculation persists about where the virus came from—whether from an infected bat sold and consumed at a Chinese wet market in Wuhan, China, or from a bioweapons lab in Wuhan, China, near the wet market where the virus was first alleged to have been contracted by human from animal species.  There is still no confirmation one way or another on the matter, and Chinese leaders have speculated that the outbreak was a bioweapons attack from the US in an effort to curb the One Belt One Road Initiative that China has been attempting to implement (Myers, 2020).  The fact is that no nation wants to own up to having a hand in the formulation or development of any biological weapon that might have been deliberately or inadvertently unleashed on the global public—even though numerous nations are engaged in the development of such biological weapons.  If the virus came from an animal to human transmission, China has shown itself unwilling to accept blame for not acting quickly enough to stop the spread, and the World Health Organization has essentially acquitted China of any wrongdoing or negligence on that front—much to chagrin of President Trump.

Aside from the question of where the virus came from, what is still debated, too, is how the virus spreads.  It is believed that the primary method of transmission is small droplets that contain a high viral load and that are transmitted from coughing, sneezing or talking to others.  Some have speculated that the virus can be airborne and transmitted simply from breathing the same air as those who are infected.  This speculation was largely born from the fact that so many passengers on cruise ships contracted the virus over a short period of time.

It has also been speculated that the virus penetrates the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor and thus takes control of the host through the lungs where the ACE2 receptors are most abundant.  The reason for the seriousness of the spread in China has been that Asians have twice as many ACE2 receptors in their body as white people.  The reaction in the West was somewhat muted at first, but as media-inspired fear spread, governors across the US have been locking down states.  Still, it is unclear how the virus spreads, or what it really is doing, whether...

& Yu, T. (2020).  Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 99 cases of 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan, China: a descriptive study. The Lancet, 395(10223), 507-513.
Kekatos, M. (2020).…