Young people who were expected to be responsible in the pandemic; as they are the least vulnerable to this extremely contagious virus are acting rashly.
US man’s demise
Recently a 30-year-old man from the US, have covered headline of almost every news channel and website. The man who thought that the virus is ‘hoax‘. According to Jane Appleby, chief medical officer, Methodist Hospital, San Antonio; in his statement said that the man thought, being young, he is invincible and the virus would not affect him.
This man got infected by the virus in a COVID-19 party, held by his acquaintance. The man got seriously-ill, at his death bed he said to his nurse, “I think, I made a mistake”.
Younger people at risk of the pandemic
As the pandemic spread its arms, a new observation comes forth seeing the data of infected people recently. The virus is now infecting more people laying between the age group of 30; i.e. the working force population.
North Carolina, South Carolina, Arizona, Colorado, and Wisconsin; have reported a huge number of infections in the younger population than observed before. The hike of infection in a younger slice of the population shows the changing pattern of pandemic.
At the beginning of the pandemic; the pattern through which the virus was spreading was different. At the commencement, the virus was detected in mostly the elderly or in children of a small age group. The younger population was supposed to be, only slightly vulnerable to the novel coronavirus. But the current statistics, paint a different picture.
Why is the pattern of pandemic changing?
Experts believe that there might be several reasons behind the changing pattern of the pandemic.
- It could be because at the dawn of the pandemic, the government had limited testing kits. Only those were tested; who showed a clear symptom of infection or of those who were seriously ill. But now we have quite a quantity of those; proper testing is done, even of those who have very minor or no symptoms of virus infection. Therefore we are getting the exact number of infections, revealing the correct statistics of spread.
- Another reason could be, younger people have mistaken themselves from being less vulnerable to completely immune to the coronavirus. They find themselves free to go back to their normal life; gathering at workplaces and parties. This is one of the most prominent reasons; because such gathering would without a shadow of doubt speed up the spread.
Any of the two above reasons could true or maybe both. But there is no denying the fact that most young people are not afraid of being infected; the youngsters gather to party without much precautions.
Why the Increasing number of cases amongst young adults dangerous?
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention; The chances of a person of age group 20-30 being seriously ill by the infection of coronavirus are very low; i.e. below 4%. In most cases, people under this age would rarely need to be admitted to the hospital. In maximum cases, the infected person’s immune system is strong enough to control the spread; and eradicate the virus from the infected body.
But, until the body is completely free of coronavirus; it is important for the person to strictly quarantine themselves into their houses. The problem of infection in young adults might not be serious in most cases, but it could be lethal for the elderly and very young children.
Young people might not detect any symptoms of the virus, their body completely cures it. But while that time if they come in contact with others they would spread the virus; and the vulnerable population might get infected. Therefore it is important for everyone, to follow the norms made by the government during the pandemic.
The urge of going out leads these young adults out, which might infect them and they become a part of the transmission cycle, unknowingly.
The social ending of the pandemic?
Globally currently there are more than 13.1 million confirmed cases of infected people; in the US alone there are more than 3.4 million cases. Despite being extremely contagious, and above 0.5 million death, people are not scared of this virus. When the fear of the pandemic triggering pathogen ends, it is known as the social end of the pandemic.
This soon ending of the virus when it is burgeoning is not a good indication. Scientists all around the world are working assiduously for finding a vaccine. Such a noxious pandemic should have a medical end, not a social one. If in the worst-case scenario, it doesn’t have a medical end or a long duration of time; it could have a social end but only when the spread is in control.
In most of the countries, the number of cases is staggeringly increasing. The easiest way to lower the number would be a strict lockdown, but for how long can economies be shut. Being the adults we should take the responsibility of lowering the graph, not giving it new peaks every single weekend.
