Steven Bradshaw

English 2010

Information Effect Project

The Covid

19 pandemic. What we call uncertain times. What is it? Where did it come from? In the

beginning we acted like it was nothing, we thought it would never reach our town. The next

thing we knew our city was in a shutdown where you weren’t allowed to leave your house

unless you were an essential employee. Now we just need to wear masks anytime we are in

public. It was clear we did not know what we were doing, and I believe this is what lead to such

a poor response to this pandemic.

So, lets dive into some details about the coronavirus and try to understand what this is

and what we should do.

 Steven Bradshaw
English 2010

According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) the coronavirus

continues to spread throughout the US, and it is killing more Americans per week than other

common causes of death like heart disease and cancer have in past (see image below).

The coronavirus has

spread quickly in the US,

and the number of deaths

has grown along with it.

From April 9th, 2020 to

April 15th, 2020 at least

13,613 people died from

Covid-19, compared with

9,801 the week before. For

comparison, 12,451

people died on average per week from heart diseases and 11,521 people died per week from

cancer in 2018. Less than 800 people died from car accidents in any week that year. Even bad

flu seasons, like the 2017-2018 season, in which an estimated 61,000 Americans didn’t claim

lives as quickly as COVID-19. (Business Insider, Business Insider, 17 Apr. 2020)

Although there are cases that could not be reported. Either way this virus spreads fast

and is harsher to people than the flu. It is a big deal and we should be taking measure to

prevent it from spreading. Here are 5 steps to prevent the spread any infectious disease

including the coronavirus. (10 Ways You Can Reduce the Spread of COVID-19. HonorHealth)
 Steven Bradshaw
English 2010

 Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds after any activity.

 Wear a mask or cloth face covering.

 Maintain social distancing and work from home if possible. Avoid any type of public

gatherings or public transportation.

 Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.

 Clean “high-touch” surfaces regularly.

Experts say the Coronavirus originated in bats and made the jump to humans at one of

Wuhan’s open-air “wet markets” in China. Some wet markets sell wild or banned species like

cobras, wild boars, and raccoon dogs. Crowded conditions can lead to virus’s swap genes from

different animals and sometimes the virus changes so much it can start to infect and spread

among people. Which is what happened in late 2019 where a bat with the virus was purchased

in Wuhan’s “wet markets” and consumed. (“Covid-19 Coronavirus.” Ebscohost, EBSCO Information

Services, 2020)

The Coronavirus is a highly infectious, potentially fatal respiratory infection.

Signs/symptoms develop after an average incubation period of 2-7 days. (“Covid-19 Coronavirus.”

Ebscohost, EBSCO Information Services, 2020) The most common symptoms are shortness of

breath, fever, dry cough, and a loss in taste. The Virus is especially dangerous to those who

have existing respiratory conditions, obesity, diabetes, lung, and hart problems etc. As of

October 2020, there is no specific antiviral treatment or prevention vaccine. ( “Covid-19

Coronavirus.” Ebscohost, EBSCO Information Services, 2020)

 Steven Bradshaw
English 2010

The virus has affected people directly as an infectious disease however, the virus has

also affected people indirectly through our economy. Schools have closed and the need for

commodities and manufactured products has decreased. Social distancing, self-isolation and

travel restrictions have led to a reduced workforce across all economic sectors and caused

many jobs to be lost. (International Journal of Surgery London, England, IJS Publishing Group

Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd., June 2020.) Most businesses have had to make harsh decisions

such as 401K suspension, and furloughs/layoff. The unemployment rate has increased 57

percent as of July 2020. (MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015)

In conclusion the coronavirus is spreading faster and killing more people than any other

flu like virus within its time of existing. It is important for people to understand that this is a
 Steven Bradshaw
English 2010

new virus and we are learning how we should be treating it. And until there is a vaccine the

least, we can do is wear a mask, practice social distancing, and wash your hands regularly.

References

Sonnemaker, Tyler. “One Chart Shows How Many Americans Are Dying from the Coronavirus
Each Week Compared with Other Common Causes of Death like Heart Disease, Cancer,
and the Flu.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 17 Apr. 2020,
www.businessinsider.com/chart-us-weekly-coronavirus-deaths-compared-heart-disease-
cancer-flu-2020-4.

“2019-2020 U.S. Flu Season: Preliminary In-Season Burden Estimates.” Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 Oct. 2020,
www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/preliminary-in-season-estimates.htm.

“2019-2020 U.S. Flu Season: Preliminary In-Season Burden Estimates.” Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 Oct. 2020,
www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/preliminary-in-season-estimates.htm.

“CDC COVID Data Tracker.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/.

Schub, Tanja. “Covid-19 Coronavirus.” Ebscohost, EBSCO Information Services, 2020,

eds.b.ebscohost.com.libprox1.slcc.edu:2048/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?
vid=2&sid=6123a72a-53a5-4708-a153-dc9d10d36a3b%40sessionmgr101.

Schub, Tanja T. “Influenza an Overview.” Ebscohost, EBSCO Information Services, 2019,

eds.b.ebscohost.com.libprox1.slcc.edu:2048/eds/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=281f7f36-a7ed-
4d22-896d-1a046f581eed%40pdc-v-sessmgr02&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU
%3d#AN=T704411&db=nup.

Mellerson, Jenelle L. “Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Vaccination Assessment.”
Ebscohost, 2018, eds.a.ebscohost.com.libprox1.slcc.edu:2048/eds/detail/detail?
vid=4&sid=dc8e6f84-3a89-4a1b-baa4-b595fc0c61bd%40sdc-v-
sessmgr02&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=143704262&db=eft.

“10 Ways You Can Reduce the Spread of COVID-19.” HonorHealth,

www.honorhealth.com/healthy-living/9-ways-you-can-reduce-spread-covid-19.
 Steven Bradshaw
English 2010

Brown, Eric. “Rediscovering Fundamental Innovation.” MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of

Technology, 2015, news.mit.edu/2015/rediscovering-fundamental-innovation-eugene-
fitzgerald-1203.

Nicola, Maria, et al. “The Socio-Economic Implications of the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19):
A Review.” International Journal of Surgery (London, England), IJS Publishing Group Ltd.
Published by Elsevier Ltd., June 2020, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7162753/.

Reflection
I really struggled with the information effect project as I chose a topic with an

overwhelming amount of information on it. I chose this because I thought it would be a good

topic to research on, but my paper became messy with facts thrown in left and right due to all

the contradicting information.

My goals were to have an easy to read report with only facts and data to read. I wanted

to build a report that anyone could open to get information regarding the coronavirus. I do feel

like I met this goal, this is the 4th revision I had made with multiple changes. I started out with

my own personal thoughts on the topic but as this was an informative paper, I realized it

needed to be less opinion an more facts.

I received an overwhelming amount of feedback. At first, I was frustrated with how much

I needed to change but throughout the process I realized that my paper needed corrections. I

used all the feedback that was given, and I tried to change the report to fit a more informative

essay rather than an opinionated. I also learned there were intext comments in the feedback of

my submitted draft. I had been making corrections based on the comments section only. I am

glad I saw this so that my future reports will have a better chance to be corrected.
 Steven Bradshaw
English 2010

Overall, I learned a lot about the coronavirus and hope I created a useful informative page

for it. This has been the hardest paper I have written with the long word count specification and

the frustrating cite source creation, but I think I have improved my writing because of it.