Should Andrews University students be worried about COVID-19?
I sat down with Biology Professor Brian Wong, PhD, to get his thoughts on the risks involved
I woke up one morning not thinking it any different than another day. Then I glanced at my dorm room desk and — surprise! — found an informational paper by the CDC outlining the risks of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Someone had evidently snuck into my room and placed it there. The virus has been dominating the news cycle lately. Starting in China and spreading across the globe, COVID-19 has public health officials scrambling to find proper solutions, and students wondering how to respond.
Some of my fellow students at Andrews University have expressed fear and concern regarding the disease possibly coming to our campus. The administration has even sent emails to the student population to inform and advise regarding the virus. Given this atmosphere of concern, I interviewed Biology Professor, Brian Wong PhD, to get his assessment. He told me “It has the potential that it will come” to the Andrews University campus. “There are cases nearby in Chicago and [members of] our community commute over there during the weekend…especially during break,” but for now, “I think the campus itself is kind of alert and safe.”
Dr. Wong said, “I think right now we don’t have danger in the sense of imminent danger… There is no need to be afraid, just alert… [Novel] coronavirus, as well as SARS virus, are contagious.” Therefore, it is important that students and faculty continue “washing hands; don’t touch the face too much; if you have flu[-like] symptoms, wear your mask [when you] go to class, or stay in the dorm to rest.”
Occasionally people (including myself) are seen on campus wearing surgical masks. The shortcoming of this type of mask, says Dr. Wong, is that it will not block germs effectively “because it leaks on the side. You have to use an N95 to block everything.” N95 is a type of respiratory mask which is designed to prevent unfiltered air from passing through, unlike the surgical mask. However, wearing surgical-style masks is important for “always protect[ing] other people when you have flu-like symptoms, and in case you have coronavirus,” since it can spread through air.
The professor then described how the airborne spread would happen in everyday settings: “You go to the cafeteria to eat. Let’s say, [I], Dr. Wong ha[ve] the virus, and I have forty-some days as a carrier, even though I have no symptoms. Then, I go to the cafe to eat and you sit next to me. … it’s about a one-foot difference at the same table. And when I’m eating, talking especially, the things [airborne germs] will reach your food, reach the table, reach your utensils. That is dangerous. And anything coming from me as a carrier… will contaminate everything I touch.” He continued, “So as a teacher, I will strongly advise myself if I have the flu [to] either stay home, or wear my mask to lecture to my students. Otherwise… at least half the class close to me will be contaminated.”
That is a wise move to make. If I know myself to have symptoms of some communicable disease, then wearing a mask would be a favor and a courtesy to others around me. Sometimes I wonder why the general public in America has not adopted the practice of mask-wearing to prevent the spread of disease. Perhaps some people will after learning about this coronavirus.
While a surgical mask is not very good for keeping outside germs from being inhaled, they can benefit the healthy people around you by keeping inside germs that would otherwise go airborne and which could possibly be inhaled by someone else. Dr. Wong says, “Wearing a mask has the function of protecting the clean people. If you are sick, you’d better wear a mask.” If one has close contact with possibly infected people, “yes, wearing masks is better than nothing,” even though it is not as good as an N95 mask, which does a far better job of filtering all the air the wearer breathes.
I could not help but notice how the coronavirus-inspired heightened use of masks has increased prices on Amazon, and in many cases, caused masks to sell out completely. Last semester, before anyone claimed to know about the novel coronavirus, I bought some surgical masks cheaply. Now, with the overwhelming demand with limited supply, that same product is no longer available. Some people might claim at a time like this that suppliers are being immoral by raising prices. However, what I learned from Thomas Sowell’s Basic Economics is that the high prices help by incentivizing consumers to not buy more than necessary, in addition to incentivizing suppliers to provide more of them, since doing so has become more profitable.
Which age group is at most risk for being infected with COVID-19, and what are the chances for recovery? Dr. Wong remarks, “We don’t know…if the Chinese data is correct… Nobody trusts that. It looks like the American cases are worse than [the] Chinese cases, but no. But the Americans report every case, but the Chinese government may not… We never know with a closed system.”
As far as the outlook for Andrews University goes, Dr. Wong says he is “hopeful, yes, but still very, very cautious. [You’ve] got to watch out. You cannot be complicit because we see cases [like] California… and… Japan” where the virus spread swiftly. “Eating habits and close contact” can play a role in a person’s risk of catching disease, and proper sanitation practices are critical. Dr. Wong also expressed favor toward using video streaming technology to perform school assemblies to avoid the unnecessary risk of communicating diseases.
AU’s Director for Co-Curricular Education, Steve Yeagley, DMin, told me “There may be any number of ‘socially disruptive measures’ on the horizon for schools and universities, depending on the path the outbreak takes. I’m not certain we have the capacity to offer a streaming option for all of the programs that receive co-curricular credit. However, since Thursday programs gather large groups of students in a single location, that certainly would be an area we could target in order to lower the risk of community spread. If the administration [the University’s COVID-19 response is being led by the Provost] felt it was necessary for us to offer a live-streaming option for chapels and forums, I think we could deliver on that, with some modifications to our attendance-taking system.”
[An earlier version of this story was first published in The Student Movement: the official student newspaper of Andrews University, on 11 March, 2020.]
