As a high school student in the Bay Area, I have seen many different reactions to this news item—I felt that it might be useful to bring a new perspective to the crisis. There are several precautions being taken by San Francisco Hospital, which currently houses two of the infected cases in Northern California. Officials have also been extremely careful, quarantining the 250 Americans evacuated from Wuhan, China—the epicenter of the outbreak—in an airforce base in Fairfield for 14 days. We also need to understand this issue in context: more than 12,000 people have died from the influenza (the flu) nationally, making the coronavirus one among several other concerns. We are in the height of flu season, and it is important to remember that small actions, such as washing your hands and coughing into your arm, can prevent its spread.
