Michael Ahn 22
The coronavirus has now officially spread to every continent on Earth except Antarctica. It has infected over 40 countries and at least 88,000 individuals in total, killing nearly 3,000 victims in the process. To make matters worse, various health experts expect to witness a sharp increase in coronavirus cases all over the globe, and many American health officials predict that the spread of the coronavirus within the U.S. is ‘only a matter of time.’ Stock prices are plummeting, and overused plague memes are spreading. Yet at the same time, 30,000 patients have recovered, and, fortunately enough, the virus does not seem lethal enough to inflict instantaneous death upon its victims.
Nonetheless, the coronavirus continues to spread, and California already has a handful of confirmed infections. This means that while it may not pose any cataclysmic danger to our fellow Bell students, the novel coronavirus is something that Bellarmine students should watch out for and keep track of.
A brief survey of 50 Bellarmine students reports on what they think of the coronavirus. The survey asked the participants to describe how likely they believed it was for the virus to infect them by choosing one out of these five statements:
A) [I am extremely confident that I will not catch the virus],
B) [It’s more likely that I will not catch it, but there’s still a considerable possibility],
C) [The odds of catching it are 50/50],
D) [It’s more likely that I will not catch it, but there’s a possibility of not catching it],
E) [I am extremely confident I will catch it].
Of the 50 participants, 22% chose option A and stated that they were extremely confident that they will not catch the virus. 58% chose option B and believed that it was more likely that they will not catch the virus but that there is still a possibility of it happening.16% of participants picked choice C and stated that they believe the odds of catching the virus are 50/50. Meanwhile, 4% of participants chose option D and expressed that they believe it is more likely for them to catch the coronavirus than not. No participant chose option E and stated that they were extremely confident that they would catch it.
Judging from these general results, it seems safe to assume that the coronavirus isn’t actively tearing down the sanity of our fellow Bell students, but Bells do seem mildly concerned about catching it.
At the same time, informal analysis of the general Bellarmine community reveals that although Bells are not overly concerned about getting an infection themselves, they are nonetheless concerned for the well-being of those already infected by the disease.
Ben Bahn, a sophomore at Bellarmine, voices his feelings:
“I honestly think it’s more or less unlikely that I’ll be infected by the virus. At the same time though it must be pretty rough for the people infected by it.”