Somewhere in China, a bat had a virus.

That is how it started, a virus no one had seen before. It was a coronavirus. The bat passed the virus on to a person, who passed it on to other people in Wuhan, before they even knew they were sick. Now, the whole of Asia has it, as does Europe, and the United States. I live in Maryland, which has 43 cases today. If you think of doubling numbers on a calculator starting with the number 2, how quickly the numbers grow, that is what it’s like. That is how quickly the virus can spread. And because this virus has such a high death rate, especially for older or sicker people, the whole US has shut down most schools.

The coronavirus affects the world economy: money isn’t made, stock markets go down. Parents worry. They call it “social isolation” and “flattening of the curve” to make sure that virus transmission slows down. This is to help hospitals handle the numbers of sick patients better. But those terms are not what this feels like. Washing your hands until your skin cracks and bleeds, wearing masks, elbow bumps instead of handshakes. I’ve never been part of a pandemic this bad, this scary. Such a small substance that we can’t even see causes our world to crumble.

We haven’t been quarantined yet… but we are learning at home. It is scary to think that you aren’t in school because a virus going around could kill you. It makes my heart break, knowing why we are not in school.

But maybe there is a golden lining.

Maybe, since people aren’t traveling and we are all staying home, we can slow down pollution and global warming, and help the Earth. Maybe people will see the good in this way of life. Maybe a quieter, calmer way of life can bring people together more.

I will hope for this.

---

 

 

Sofie Dardzinski, 9
Potomac, MD