( ENSPIRE Health & Wellness ) COVID Continues to Cause Devastation Around The World Almost Two Years After Its Discovery
ENSPIRE Contributor: LaShonda Thompson
As we are all aware by now, Coronavirus (COVID-19) is a newly discovered coronavirus that causes an infectious disease. The virus is airborne and is spread primarily through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes. The world is drawing close to two years of suffering from the impact of the virus, and the end still seems so far away.
There was a short glimpse of hope in early 2021 when the cases seemed to be drawing down, vaccination rates were increasing, and the CDC lifted mask mandates, then comes a more contagious variant of the virus, Delta. Compared to other variants, the Delta variant was more infectious and resulted in greater transmissibility, according to CDC data, even in vaccinated persons. And as of today, the Delta strain of the virus is currently the most common in the United States.
As we continue along the road of understanding the COVID-19 virus, we can only expect that there will be more variants to appear. When a virus’s genes change, or mutation occurs, it produces variants. It’s not surprising that the virus that causes COVID-19 is evolving and altering, as this is the nature of RNA viruses. Virus mutations are nothing new or unexpected. And in the recent summer months, the number of cases has continued to soar, and travel is at an all-time high – which opens the door for new variants to occur.
How the virus continues to cause devastation worldwide, our hopes can only be to find a better scientific way to suppress the spread of the virus. Still, until then, it is up to all of us to do our part by following CDC-recommended guidelines.
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