The coronavirus has reached the United States and is in no shape to stop.

53 cases are confirmed throughout America. 2,700 people have died and 80,000 have been affected by the disease worldwide. However, the U.S. is not hit by the coronavirus as hard as some other countries have been. China, Iran, South Korea and Italy have the biggest number of cases, and there is concern that the virus is becoming a pandemic. Another concern is that a vaccine for the coronavirus will not be ready for more than a year.

Wednesday night, President Donald Trump held a press conference and attempted to ease the public’s fears with advice, perspective and jokes. He said to treat the coronavirus like the flu and make sure to wash your hands often. He is correct, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that coronavirus is spread in a similar manner as the flu, so the tried and true ways to prevent the disease should be the same.

Later in the conference, Trump appointed Vice President Mike Pence to run the administration’s response to coronavirus. He is putting all hands on deck in order to get through this crisis. Also, Trump emphasized how low the number of cases are in the U.S. and that the spread is under control as of now.

“We really think we’ve done a great job in keeping it down to a minimum. And again, we’ve had tremendous success — tremendous success, beyond what people would have thought,” Trump said.

Health officials are disagreeing with the president’s reassurances. They believe that an outbreak will occur at one point or another, especially since the CDC found that a coronavirus case originated from California, not from a foreign country.

Schools are beginning to worry about the threat of the coronavirus. Many are sending emails to parents and working with their local departments of health in order to keep their hallways as healthy as possible. Other public places such as grocery stores, movie theaters and malls are taking similar prevention measures.

People are becoming very cautious of coronavirus and worrying about how much it will spread. America is not affected badly as of now, but make sure to wash your hands to stay healthy.

Sources:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51637481

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/26/coronavirus-trump-press-conference-117813