Module 7- Essay

Christopher Hernandez

World History

Patricia Andrews

April 16, 2020

Module 7

As stated by the CDC, “A pandemic is a global outbreak of disease. Pandemics happen when a new virus emerges to infect people and can spread between people sustainably. Because there is little to no pre-existing immunity against the new virus, it spreads worldwide.” A few weeks ago, March 11, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 pandemic, a disease caused by the new coronavirus (Sars-Cov-2). Since then, the term has not left the news. Outbreaks, on the other hand, occur when there is a sudden increase in the number of cases of the disease in a specific region. There is also a disease that is classified as endemic when it happens very often only in a specific location - not reaching other communities. A Pandemic is the worst because on a severity scale, it’s the most delicate case.

According to the CDC’s definition, a disease needs to impact the entire globe to be considered a pandemic, but I don’t think that a disease needs to impact every corner of the world to be considered a pandemic. I think this because any population affected by a rapidly spreading disease should be considered a pandemic because it’s still affecting a population. Smallpox killing native Americans after in contact with European conquerors is an example of a pandemic to me. 

There have been cases throughout history where there have been similar pandemics and outbreaks. Some occurred in 1792-1889. As discussed in module 5 a pandemic that I chose to focus on was the Great Plague Of London (1665-1666). This regional pandemic took place in Great Britain and started in April 1665. It spread pretty rapidly in the summer with an overall total of 75,000 deaths which is 15% of Great Britain’s population. This began because plague-infected rodents carrying fleas. The reason for it spreading so rapidly was because of the hot weather and because of how small fleas are. From this plague came more precautions from the people and more safety rules to help prevent another incident. 

Another incident was the Flu Pandemic of 1918. Between 1918 and 1920 an outbreak of influenza tore across the globe making it a pandemic. Over a third of the world’s population were affected and ending around 35 million peoples lives. What made this worse than other influenza outbreaks was the way it affected not just the young and old but even healthy adults. Even some children and others whose immune systems were weaker were still alive.

This pandemic has affected everyone worldwide and has put a strain on people and families around the globe. Many people have been affected and many people have passed away. By doing this social distancing and quarantine techniques we are slowing down the spread of COVID-19 while doctors and scientists work to find a vaccine. There are many people that aren’t following the rules and making this pandemic spread even more.  

This all happened so quick and no one was prepared for it. I think the working class is taking it especially hard and it’s affecting our economy. Many businesses have closed and we are only allowed to go out for essential things like groceries or if you are one of the lucky people, you go to work. This has affected everyone, myself included because my company put the majority of its workers on furlough. I had to move all my things out of my dorm room and move back home and to top it off our school is closing which adds the stress of where to go next. 

I think the hardest part of this pandemic is schooling. For many students, including myself, online learning isn’t for us and we are more hands-on workers. It’s very hard to maintain focus in online classrooms and we are still drowned in school work all at once while trying to adjust to the new system. Many teachers are understandable and flexible right now because of this change and that helps but many are still struggling. I hope that we are allowed out soon and everyone’s days can go semi-normal once again. We all know that the recovery won’t be an easy or simple process.

Citations

“Situation Summary.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 26 Mar. 2020, www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/summary.html#:~:text=A pandemic is a global, pandemic by the WHO.

Staff. “Outbreak: 10 of the Worst Pandemics in History.” MPH Online, www.mphonline.org/worst-pandemics-in-history/.