Superspreaders Continue Amid Rising COVID Numbers

“Don’t be afraid of COVID,” President Donald Trump tweeted from a military hospital whilst receiving state-of-the-art COVID-19 treatment. “Don’t let it dominate your life.”

A month ago, the Rose Garden event – which held Trump’s announcement of Judge Amy Coney Barrett as his choice for the replacement of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court – was one of hundreds of people and numerous greetings, few masks and little personal space. A true concoction for trouble during this miasmic time.

Merely three days later, he tested positive for COVID-19. Now, over two dozen cases have been reported from those who were in contact with the president.

A superspreader is a person infected with a virus, who transmits it to an extraordinarily large number of people. This is what is being described here.

Scientists tracing coronavirus contact in Hong Kong estimate that a mere 19 percent of people infected were responsible for 80 percent of the spread. This means that a single case can turn into hundreds as the result of one occasion.

So, what describes the ideal superspreader event? Large numbers of people, iffy ventilation, little to no social distancing or mask wearing, and mindsets of corona triviality.

In a situation such as school reopening during a pandemic, the chances of a superspreader event is particularly high.

“What I think about a lot is all the people who might very well have the virus and are asymptomatic,” said Crystal Ballard, principal.

At HHS, Ballard is most concerned about staffing needs, lunch, busing, and passing times. She believes that the real challenge is in thinking about individuals who may have the virus, who could easily infect someone, who then infects another, and so on.

Still, she is remaining hopeful for the prospect of having a physical learning environment this school year.

On the other hand, many students are writing off this year knowing that this is indefinite change the pandemic has brought. For example, Zachary Peterson, senior, is focusing on his future rather than the misgivings 2020 has thrown at us.

“I personally don’t think we’ll be in school at all this year, so I’ve prepared for that mentally,” Peterson said. “I’m more concerned about how it will impact college.”

And if we’re not careful, superspreaders will be the cause of yet another shutdown, which makes 2021 an even less predictable year.