In D.G. Martin’s “Will history repeat itself more than 100 years later?” published March 3, he brought up some valid points about the ever-growing threat of the coronavirus becoming a pandemic.

He compared it to the influenza pandemic of 1918. The influenza pandemic killed over 50 million people worldwide and was very contagious; however, it was most often contracted by people between the ages of 20 and 40. This differs greatly from the coronavirus, as no one under age 10 has shown symptoms of the virus, and the people affected by it are most often elderly and already have compromised health. Extreme precautions should still be taken to prevent spreading the virus, but the fears and worries of young people (under the age of 60) that are in good health are not supported by the trends of reported deaths due to the virus.

According to the Washington Post, over 82% of coronavirus cases are mild and require little to no medical intervention. The New York Times states that the majority of coronavirus deaths in Italy, an area hit hard by the outbreak, were people over age 70. Additionally, many of those folks had pre-existing medical conditions.

The death rate of the coronavirus worldwide has risen to about 3.4%, but there still isn’t a reason for extreme worrying. The high death rate for the coronavirus can be blamed largely on the lack of infrastructure in many of the countries hit the hardest.

The citizens of those countries, such as China and Iran, lack access to adequate health care, which causes increased death rates and allows the virus to spread. In America, we have access to the best health care in the world, so while we should still try to prevent the spread of the virus, we should not be worrying as much as we are.

— Kate Carter

Rockwell