Editor: Karen Isabel Siapno (Senior) - Chapter Vice President

Website Curator: Ify Chidi (Sophomore) - Chapter Secretary Assisant

COVID-19

Public Reaction

Author: Nikhil Trehan (Junior) - Chapter Treasurer Assistant

As much of the United States and the rest of the world enters the second month of government-ordered shutdowns aimed to slow the spread of the coronavirus, tensions rise between the public and the government. In more than a dozen states, anti-lockdown protesters ranging in size from tens to thousands of people have taken the streets, many not wearing masks and following social distancing policies. Author and professor Theda Skocpol at Harvard University claims that the main motives of these protestors are political and stem from skepticism of the government. Indeed, the general profile of the protestors are described as conservative, pro-Trump, and pro-gun activists who argue that their constitutional rights are being disregarded as a result of the lockdown measures. Mr. Miller, a Washington protestor, voices these concerns, claiming “we believe that the (emergency coronavirus) proclamations that the governor here ordered violate” the state constitution, which declares that “the right of the people to peaceably assemble shall never be abridged.” President Donald Trump has given his support to the protestors and urged state governors to start the process of reopening the economy.

However, with increasing widespread criticism of the protests, polls show that 61% of Americans still favor the measures imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, and an additional 26% do not believe the measures go far enough. Healthcare professionals see the protests as a “kick in the teeth,” as the risks that they face in treating coronavirus patients are undermined by thousands of people disregarding social distancing measures and thus risking the further spread of COVID-19. As governors and local governments navigate the steps to reopening the economy, it is important for leaders as well as the public to use scientific data rather than political beliefs to guide decision-making.

COVID-19: The Numbers

Author: Karen Isabel Siapno (Senior) - Chapter Vice President

South Korea’s Efforts on Eradicating COVID-19

Author: Felisha Antioquia (Junior) - Chapter Representative

Besides COVID-19’s impact on the United States, other countries such as South Korea have taken critical steps in order to flatten the curve and prevent further fatalities. Compared to the United State’s death toll of about 68,000 people, South Korea accumulated 252 total deaths from COVID-19. Although South Korea had the second-highest number of Coronavirus cases, they combated new cases through the early preparation of technology and testing.

Since peaking at 909 deaths in mid-February, South Korea lowered its death total to 256. Through their smart and quick preparations to control COVID-19, South Korea became one of the only countries to flatten the curve in a short amount of time. One of the ways they combatted the virus was through early testing. By the end of February, South Korea disease experts called for drive-thru screening clinics which enabled the testing of thousands of citizens daily. Through the use of technology, South Korea also developed a location-based app called “Special Immigration Procedure” which alerts new COVID cases through emergency messages. To isolate potential COVID patients, South Korea’s Seoul National University Hospital created an isolation facility called “Life Treatment Center” that monitors patients who do not need to be hospitalized. Consequently, South Korea lacks a stay-at-home order. Unlike the United States government’s mandatory quarantine order, the South Korean government’s early precautions allowed them to act quickly and develop testing, which led to social distancing rather than forcible measures.

Quarantine

Author: Kyle Coaker (Junior) - Chapter Member

The six original Bay Area counties with stay-at-home orders through May 5th have extended their orders until the 31st of May. However, this new order permits new activities to take place under safety measures like social distancing.

Such activities and businesses include:

• Landscaping and gardening
• Construction
• Golfing
• Childcare facilities (fewer than 12 children)
• Real estate transactions and residential moves

Businesses that primarily operate outdoors will also reopen, but “restaurants or cafes with outdoor seating” will not be included in the new order.

Although the spread of COVID-19 has decreased with isolation policies and social distancing techniques, the effectiveness of quarantine provokes controversy among the public. Authors at the National Center of Biotechnology Information (NCBI) discuss quarantine and isolation policies, stating that “they can be very effective in protecting or restoring public health” (3). They exemplify this through the SARS outbreak in 2003, which was contained because of early isolation measures. Public health not only focuses on the health of the public but also includes core aspects of life like “safety, employment and freedom from fear” (3). Quarantine policies will help improve these aspects of life for the sake of public well-being. However, in reference to the Ebola outbreak in 2015 that cost the United States $2.2 billion in growth, costliness and morality of isolation policies must also be considered. With these health, security, and economic factors in mind, it may seem hard to determine whether or not quarantine orders should be implemented. The authors made a final conclusion in weighing the “expected benefits and harms of a certain choice,” such as quarantine measures, against the “expected benefits and harms of a different choice,” like non-quarantine measures.

As hospitalizations for COVID-19 infected patients start to become stable within the area, stay-at-home measures continue to effectively decrease the spread. However, much of the population still remains susceptible to the virus, so the benefits of quarantine policies, such as reducing contact among people and increasing the amount of time to find a vaccine or treatment, will continue to be weighed against the costs of such policies in future extensions of stay-at-home policies within the area.

What You Can Do At Home

Author: Ify Chidi (Sophomore) - Chapter Secretary Assisant

These weeks of quarantine have been eye opening on how much time we actually have in a day. While this could be a great time to de-stress and binge watch Tiger King on Netflix (#not sponsored) there is a world of free information online for the taking, from Khan Academy, to even T20 college courses. Classes with topics ranging from computer science, to art, to medicine, there 450 possible courses you can join in on, and over 30 free online health and medicine classes offered from these various Ivy League colleges that you can partake in:

You can also engage in many enriching activities, from listening to your favorite songs, to learning how to read. Libby is a free app that allows you to virtually check out books from your public library; they have millions of books, from normal books to audiobooks, romance to murder mystery.

To escape this apocalyptic reality, and enter the realm of ingenuity, here are the top ten fiction books I recommend reading this quarantine:

Vicious - V.E. Schwab

• 1. Victor and Eli, college roommates, discover that near-death experiences can create superhuman abilities. Once united by their ambitions, Victor and Eli now face off from opposite sides of the law. In this epic tale of ambition, jealousy, desire, and superpowers, this book will have you questioning morality’s limits.

Warcross - Marie Lu

• 2. Bounty hunter in an obsessively digital reality, Emika Chen decides to hack into Warcross, the immersive virtual reality game that has overtaken the world. Emika's hack works, to a point, but has araised interest from the CEO of Warcross who has not so honorable intentions. This book is great for people who play video games, have heard of video games, or know of Japan.

Renegades - Marissa Meyer

• 3. Not inspired by the TikTok dance trend, the Renegades are humans with extraordinary abilities who emerged from the ruins of a crumbled society and established peace and order where chaos reigned. As champions of justice, they remain a symbol of hope and courage to everyone - except the villains they once overthrew. This book is perfect for you if you love rooting for the villain and anarchy.

Animal Farm - George Orwell

• 4. The story of a group of farm animals, encouraged by Old Major to rebel against their human farmer and run the farm themselves, hoping to create a society where the animals can be equal, free, and happy, with one important qualification: everyone should be equal.
• Then he dies and it all goes to heck. This book is good if you’re leaning towards accepting communism.

The Poppy War - R. F. Kuang

• 5. When Rin gets accepted into Sinegard, the country's most elite military academy, she expects to be trained for war. She never expects to have to fight one. Inspired by modern Chinese history and for people who like good books.

Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo

• 6. Take a trip to the Grishaverse, to a trading hub in Ketterdam, where six unlikely partners plot to break into Swedish fort knox. Cinematic and high-stakes, it's perfect for people who love fantasy and heists and the perfect book for people who say they don't like books.

If We Were Villains - M.L. Rio

• 7. A group of thespians that are just as pretentious as they seem. All they do, every day, is recite Shakespeare, wax poetic, and cover up murders. Dark and mysterious, the ending will destroy you and I won't be sorry about it.

The Bear and the Nightingale - Katherine Arden

• 8. Rural Russia has its charms: manor houses and fields of crops, an endless forest full of creatures only some can see, and a strange, ancient magic, curling under every rock and tree. But for Vasya, a girl born with witches eyes and a free spirit, the things she wants to see lay far beyond her little village of Lesnaya Zemlya. Full of magic and folklore, this is perfect for lovers of winter nights and forest spirits.

Wolf by Wolf - Ryan Graudin

• 9. In an alternate history where the Third Riech won and the resistance is growing weaker every day, it's up to Yael, shapeshifter and spy, to kill Hitler. Yeah. That's the plot. Great if you want to ride motorcycles, punch Nazis, and not be able to sleep until you finish it.

The Golem and the Jinni - Helene Wecker

• 10. Set on the eave of the 20th century in New York, the story follows two mythical creatures exploring and surviving in a completely new world, all while being hunted by the man who created them both. Dark and twisting and lovely, this is for history and mythology buffs to read and enjoy.

Have fun learning a skele-ton in quarantine!

Sources:

Campbell, Charlie. “How South Korea Is Beating Coronavirus Without a Lockdown.” Time, Time, 1 May 2020, time.com/5830594/south-korea-covid19-coronavirus/.

“COVID-19 Map.” Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html.

Holmes, Aaron. “South Korea Is Relying on Technology to Contain COVID-19, Including Measures That Would Break Privacy Laws in the US - and so Far, It's Working.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 2 May 2020, www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-south-korea-tech-contact-tracing-testing-fight-covid-19-2020-5#the-government-plans-to-roll-out-location-tracking-wristbands-for-people-who-violate-quarantine-orders-2.

“SNUH Develops Life Treatment Center Model to Manage Mild Cases of COVID-19.” Healthcare IT News, 7 Apr. 2020, www.healthcareitnews.com/news/asia-pacific/snuh-develops-life-treatment-center-model-manage-mild-cases-covid-19.

Terhune, Chad. “Special Report: How Korea Trounced U.S. in Race to Test People for Coronavirus.” Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 18 Mar. 2020, www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-testing-specialrep/special-report-how-korea-trounced-u-s-in-race-to-test-people-for-coronavirus-idUSKBN2153BW.

“COVID-19 Map.” Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, 2020, coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html. Accessed 5 May 2020.

“United States Coronavirus: 1,212,835 Cases and 69,921 Deaths - Worldometer.” Worldometers.Info, 2020, www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/. Accessed 5 May 2020.

“Home | Coronavirus.” Coronavirus, 2020, www.coronavirus.cchealth.org/. Accessed 5 May 2020.

CDC. “Cases in the U.S.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 29 Apr. 2020, www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html. Accessed 5 May 2020.

Max Roser, Hannah Ritchie, Esteban Ortiz-Ospina and Joe Hasell (2020) - "Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19)". Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: 'https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus' [Online Resource]

6 Bay Area counties lift some shelter-in-place restrictions, certain businesses to reopen. “6 Bay Area Counties Relax Some Shelter-in-Place Restrictions, Certain Businesses to Reopen May 4.” ABC7 San Francisco, 4 May 2020, abc7news.com/society/6-bay-area-counties-lift-some-shelter-in-place-restrictions-certain-businesses-to-reopen-/6148415/. Accessed 5 May 2020.

Giubilini, Alberto, et al. “Quarantine, Isolation and the Duty of Easy Rescue in Public Health.” Developing World Bioethics, vol. 18, no. 2, 18 Sept. 2017, pp. 182–189, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6001516/#dewb12165-sec-0003title, 10.1111/dewb.12165. Accessed 5 May 2020.

‌“San Francisco and Bay Area Extend Stay Home Order through End of May | San Francisco.” Sf.Gov, 29 Apr. 2020, sf.gov/news/san-francisco-and-bay-area-extend-stay-home-order-through-end-may. Accessed 5 May 2020.

‌Maqbool, Aleem. “Coronavirus: The US Resistance to a Continued Lockdown.” BBC News, BBC, 27 Apr. 2020, www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-us-canada-52417610.

“Coronavirus Lockdown Protest: What's behind the US Demonstrations?” BBC News, BBC, 21 Apr. 2020, www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52359100.

Dhawal Shah. “Here Are 450 Ivy League Courses You Can Take Online Right Now for Free.” FreeCodeCamp.Org, freeCodeCamp.org, 4 Jan. 2020, www.freecodecamp.org/news/ivy-league-free-online-courses-a0d7ae675869/. Accessed 25 Apr. 2020.

RickAstleyVEVO. “Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Video).” YouTube, 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ. Accessed 25 Apr. 2020.

Dyslexia Daily. “Learn How To READ and SPELL.” YouTube, 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=70hoV-YYRkE. Accessed 25 Apr. 2020.

“Vicious (Villains, #1).” Goodreads.Com, 2013, www.goodreads.com/book/show/40874032-vicious. Accessed 26 Apr. 2020.

“Warcross (Warcross, #1).” Goodreads.Com, 2017, www.goodreads.com/book/show/29385546-warcross?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=PuoNBvD8jK&rank=1. Accessed 26 Apr. 2020.

“Renegades (Renegades, #1).” Goodreads.Com, 2017, www.goodreads.com/book/show/28421168-renegades. Accessed 26 Apr. 2020.

“Animal Farm.” Goodreads.Com, 2011, www.goodreads.com/book/show/170448.Animal_Farm. Accessed 26 Apr. 2020.

“The Poppy War (The Poppy War, #1).” Goodreads.Com, 2018, www.goodreads.com/book/show/35068705-the-poppy-war?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=xIOwpESuv9&rank=1. Accessed 26 Apr. 2020.

“Wolf by Wolf (Wolf by Wolf, #1).” Goodreads.Com, 2015, www.goodreads.com/book/show/24807186-wolf-by-wolf?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=YXlC0frwuY&rank=1. Accessed 26 Apr. 2020.

“The Golem and the Jinni (The Golem and the Jinni, #1).” Goodreads.Com, 2013, www.goodreads.com/book/show/15819028-the-golem-and-the-jinni?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=vS0aT8oY38&rank=1. Accessed 26 Apr. 2020.

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