Coronavirus and the Senior Year of High School

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Self-pitying is an innate human quality that is ubiquitous in all humans of all ages, especially in teenagers. I can say this with a guarantee as being a teenager I pity myself a lot. I constantly ask myself...Why me? We teenagers are known for our constant complaining nature. When we are in school, we complain about excessive homework, tiring sports practices, and constant testing. And now when we are out of school to stop the spread of the coronavirus, we complain about our missing school days, online AP testing and not to forget...senior prom. Yes, I feel apprehensive about missing the senior prom, but sometimes, some things are not under our control. Right? With that being said, I will share some of my views about the whole coronavirus situation and my senior year of high school. 
            Senior year is supposed to be the most memorable year of high school where you step into adulthood and say goodbye to those careless teen years, those friendships that you hope will cherish throughout the lifetime. But in my wildest dreams, I never imagined my senior year to be so memorable. With this daunting crisis of coronavirus, I can say for sure that I will remember my senior year for the rest of my life. I could term this period as a turning point in my life. I never saw anything like this...people stocking up on the toilet paper, grocery items, and not to forget “the mighty hand-sanitizer.” This kind of situation is unprecedented and we as humanity should understand the consequences of the coronavirus and take actions responsibly. When the health officials suggest staying at home and maintain social distancing, then we should stay at home. This can be especially hard for teenagers like me, but, we should do it...for the better good. 20 years after when we look back...we should be proud of the way the situation was handled. We should not repent the fact that we ignored social distancing. There are many things we could do at home...perhaps learn something new in this free time. When do we get time to learn in the busy school days packed with homework, clubs, extracurriculars and sports practices. If you do not have anything to learn, maybe read this blog feature that elucidates more on “the Coronavirus.”

As declared by the WHO, Coronavirus is a pandemic. What is a pandemic? The pandemic status of the coronavirus means that it has the potential to spread the disease across the globe. 
The coronavirus is an RNA based virus that belongs to the Nidoviralis group. The coronavirus has three subcategories:  alpha, beta, gamma, and delta coronavirus. It has large RNA based genome which has three unique features:
      • A highly conserved genomic organization
      • Expression of many nonstructural genes by ribosomal frameshifting 
      • Several peculiar protein functions 
      • Expression of downstream genes (towards the 3’end)


What can we do to stop the spread of the coronavirus?
The necessary precaution is to wash hands frequently with soap and water. Additionally cleaning the surfaces is very crucial. Social distancing is also a key to stop the spread of the virus. 
How can I distinguish if it is spring allergies or coronavirus?
Believe it or not, it is that time of the year where spring allergies are prominent. Hence to avoid panic, here are the distinguishing symptoms between the common cold, flu, allergies, and the coronavirus. 




Important Points:
            In this unprecedented situation, we all need to keep in mind that even though we are not suffering from any symptoms there might be other susceptible people like senior citizens or people with compromised immunity that might be under a high-risk zone. We need to take extra care by not coughing without covering our mouth. Social gatherings should be avoided. And most importantly panicking would not help. Taking effective measures like maintaining hygiene will help. That does not mean we get the license to stock up on hand sanitizers and other disinfectant products. Being a responsible citizen means considering others’ interests and hence stocking up is not an ideal measure. We should consider others’ requirements and buy products that are necessary for the time being. In this challenging time, we as humanity need to take care of others by quarantine if you are sick and avoiding stocking up on unnecessary items.  
            Lastly, in my opening paragraph, I mentioned that I keep asking myself “Why me?” But today, I feel that there are many people out there who are in a dire situation than I am in today. What do I have to sacrifice...socializing? This is nothing compared to the sacrifices and pain suffered by the patients themselves, their family members, the hospital staff and the grocery shop staff. Take a moment and thank the doctors and nurses who are sacrificing their health to tend the sick and contributing their share to stop this pandemic. Take a minute and thank the grocery staff as they do not get the opportunity to work from home. Instead, they have to ensure that their stores have supplies that could help us be safe. Take a minute and pray for those affected by the coronavirus, pray for their well-being, pray for their family members. Give them strength and hope to fight this unprecedented situation.  

           

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