COVID

By Maitreyi Shivkumar, De Montfort University

Those of us in Washington State who were hoping that 2021 would bring some respite from the massive disruption to our daily lives will have to wait.

The indignities that COVID has heaped upon us in the form of shortages now range from one end of the gastrointestinal expressway to the other. 

This article was originally published at Geopolitical Futures. The original is here.

"Stay home, stay safe" are currently the four (well, technically three) most obnoxious words in the English language.

The United Kingdom just became the first Western nation to approve a coronavirus vaccine for public use.

One of the risks of being alive is getting infected with a nasty microorganism. The coronavirus pandemic has proven that, despite the triumph of biomedical science over many common ailments, some diseases are nearly impossible to stop.

One of the main reasons that the coronavirus pandemic is so difficult to stop is because of the high prevalence of asymptomatic carriers. These are people who are infected with the virus and show no symptoms, yet can spread the virus to others.

When the COVID pandemic first emerged, Dr. Anthony Fauci said that he hoped people would permanently stop shaking hands.

Perhaps the most important question that each of us wants to know in regard to the coronavirus pandemic is, "Will I get COVID and die?" Being able to answer that question with some specificity should help us craft smart public health policies.