With schools being cancelled across the US, case numbers rising everywhere, and many people, families and even countries going under quarantine, the COVID-19 (or better known as the coronavirus) is something we all need to take seriously. 

The coronavirus has been recently classified as a pandemic by the WHO, and seeing the world coming to a halt is kind of frightening. It can spread in a numerous of ways, most notably through coughing, sneezing, physical contact (of a sick person or contaminated surface) and now even through breathing. The CDC encourages you to stay away from crowds or large gatherings, and quarantine yourself if you have any of the symptoms or are confirmed to have the coronavirus.

Our country is coming to a sort of “halt”, schools are being closed, stores are being bought out in fear, people are being sent to either stay or work from home, sports are being cancelled, people are going under quarantine, etc. 

But this all happened to Italy before us.

In Italy, there are more than 100 thousand cases confirmed as of Tuesday, March 31st. 12,428 people were confirmed dead, and 15,729 have been said to have recovered. 1 in 5 people require hospitalization- but there is no more room for those people. In one hospital, all 80 intensive coronavirus care beds are taken up- with more needed. 

Doctors are even getting sick and dying taking care of those patients. Italy is one of the most-impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. Healthcare providers are having to make hard decisions to choose who gets help and who doesn’t.

Now Italy was seemed to be hit the hardest. But now, it seems that the U.S. is worse.

An estimate provided by Johns Hopkins University stated that we may need 740 thousand ventilators to care for all the patients in a pandemic similar to the Spanish Flu, but we currently have 160 thousand with another 9 thousand in stockpile- which isn’t nearly enough for everyone.

Cases are popping up everywhere daily. This past Saturday, there was a total of 160 thousand COVID-19 cases confirmed and active, 2,860 deaths, and 7,251 recovered. Big cities such as New York, Seattle, Atlanta, New Jersey, Chicago, Ohio (the whole state!), and California are being seen with the most cases. 

During this pandemic, be sure to follow along with the cases on the news- to your best ability- and stay inside. Listen to your parents and other family members and stay safe.