On Friday, March 13, our world stopped-school had just been canceled for two weeks, shows postponed, sports seasons delayed or canceled. Just like that, everyone’s lives came to a halt. Over the weekend things still mostly went by normally, restaurants and retail stores were still business as usual until Monday when almost everything shut down in Pittsburgh.

Government officials and leaders have recommended not going out unless completely necessary and generally not being around other people. However, this has not stopped everyone from doing just that. Spring break for college students at Florida beaches has still gone on as normal. Many posts have also been shared with people hanging out and having fun at each other’s houses. 

Many younger people believe that they are not at risk so they can just go and have fun with their friends. However, this is not true at all. Many younger people can still get the virus and spread it to other people. 

COVID-19 spreads like wildfire. It is highly contagious, so if one person has it, it is likely that everyone around them will get it. Not only would your family be at risk of the virus, but once you go to a public place with high foot traffic such as the grocery store after you hang out, all of the germs that you have can spread to everyone there.This includes elderly people, who are most at risk and just trying to get food for the week. 

This is also very disheartening to the doctors and physicians that are sacrificing so much to help with this pandemic. Many of the doctors and physicians can’t even see their family because they are working around people with the Coronavirus, and they don’t want to spread the virus to their families. Nurses are working extra hours to take care of patients and are putting in extra effort to help with the pandemic. So next time you think you are bored, and that you have to go hang out with someone, just remember all of the sacrifices that the people working in healthcare are taking to keep YOU safe.

It is very challenging to not be able to do anything and just sit in your house, but this is necessary to prevent a great peak that is well beyond the health care capacity.

The red part of the graph shows what will happen if we don’t take social distancing seriously.As shown in the graph, this would be way beyond our healthcare system capacity. The blue shows what will happen if we do take social distancing seriously. This will flatten the curve, and will not go above the healthcare system capacity. 

Italy is a great example of what happens when you don’t take the proper measures. They did not go on lockdown soon enough. The Coronavirus has spread fast around Italy.In Italy, there are a total of 59,138 cases of COVID-19 reported, and 5,746 deaths. This is what could happen to the US if we don’t isolate and cancel events. Here is a graph showing each country’s number of cases over a certain number of days. 

Everyone is making sacrifices. Our economy will take a hit, which means many businesses will be forced to close. Everyone has to do their part during this crisis, and for us students, it means staying home.