Why You Should Not Hang Out with Friends Right Now
Coronavirus is not a joke; It is extremely serious and the death rate is rising everyday. However, people are still hanging out with friends, going to the pool and driving around together like nothing is wrong. This is how the virus is spreading. I have been quarantined for over two weeks now. I feel like it is my responsibility to do so. I still am able to go on walks around my neighborhood to get vitamin D and strengthen my immune system, but I make sure to keep my distance from any neighbors doing the same.
Along with everyone else in the world, I am in shock by this pandemic. While everyone is being affected in different ways, we are all going through this together. I know it’s unfortunate to not be able to see your friends, but we shouldn’t be seeing our friends right now. We shouldn’t be going over to each other’s houses and having sleepovers. In the words of Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, a former federal and state health official, “The most important thing is for people to change their daily routines and really reduce their social interactions.”
Many people with COVID-19 do not develop any symptoms while others get hospitalized and become very weak. It also takes 2-14 days after exposure for symptoms to appear. While people assume that if they are not feeling sick, they can go out and see their friends, even if you and your friend both feel one-hundred percent, you should not be hanging out.
It is possible that your friend’s dad or sibling has it. It is possible that they have symptoms that have not yet been developed. Since you could have it and not know for two weeks, you could infect your friend’s whole family before you had any symptoms. This is how it is spreading. One person has it and does not realize it. They go out with their friends, leaving their home, and infect ten people. Those ten people go home and infect another ten. This is how Coronavirus has spread so quickly. As of March 31, according to the CDC, the United States had over 163,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19. This is just the number of people who have been tested. There are so many more people who have it; people who are unaware and people who have not been able to be tested. This number will continue to increase. It is our responsibility to stay home, in doing so, we will limit the number of people who are being infected with the virus which will help to “flatten the curve.”