Fears and Consequences of COVID-19

Perhaps the greatest fear of the Novel Coronavirus and its COVID-19 disease pandemic, apart from its demonstrated prolific propensity to kill and to infect humans, could be its mysteriousness.

With global infections from the pathogen surpassing 3.2 million and with deaths reaching over 230,000, noble scientists still cannot truly define all the aspects of this sub-microscopic highly contagious agent's wrath. 

In spite of scientific abilities that have mapped the gene of various strains of this Novel Coronavirus, and the international issuance of health guidelines to push back and to contain COVID-19, scientists are still unable to state with full certainty the true origin of the contagion, its full characteristics, its exact incubation time, its infected asymptomatic quality, its total possible modes of transmission and whether or not its survival guarantees immunity, and if so, for how. Thus, real fears of contracting the disease continue among the people as COVID-19 continues to spread in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas.

The consequences of COVID-19 are starkly evident from infections, to deaths, to recession-reaching stalled economies and to new societal norms of social distancing among stay at home orders. 

Yet, with full knowledge of COVID-19 fears and consequences, many jurisdictions in the United States (US) have chosen to run the gauntlet in reopening their communities ahead of the 14-day period of experiencing declining COVID-19 hospitalizations and infections. 

Therefore, public health becomes the choice and the responsibility of the individual.