By Jackie Champoux
Staff Reporter
The United Stated has diagnosed 33,404 cases of the novel coronavirus as of March 23, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Globally there are over 300,000 cases and counting.
According to the CDC, “older adults and people who have other serious underlying medical conditions may be at higher risk of getting very sick from this illness.”
Millennials, Generation Y and Generation X have recently been the subject of some bad press for their visible defiance of the CDC’s recommendations, such as congregating at beaches and bars.
Regarding these facts, do Sacred Heart University’s students believe they should not take COVID-19 seriously, and are these attitudes contributing to the faster spread of the virus?
Sophomore Alexandra Morabito says she is taking the coronavirus seriously.
“I am just as worried, because no one wants to be responsible for spreading an illness to the people that you love. The main reason I am so nervous is if I were to get the virus, I would spread it to the people in my life older than me and they would not be able to recover as easily as I may,” said Morabito.
Sophomore Stefano Barbiero says this pandemic is nothing his age group has ever seen before.
“No people alive in my age group have experienced anything like the panic this has caused, so this is the first real test of our preparedness and the first real global crisis we’ve been a part of,” said Barbiero.
On the other hand, Barbiero said he does see both sides of the situation for his age group.
“We live in a ‘that would never happen to me’ culture, because we don’t understand the magnitude of the situation, and many won’t until it’s too late,” said Barbiero.
According to an email sent out by the university, as well as being broadcasted on news channels, students and the general public have been told to take precautions such as hand washing, social distancing, staying home when you are sick, disinfecting surfaces, etc.
Sophomore Alexa Kavarsky said, “I have been taking precautions like washing my hands often and cleaning commonly used surfaces.”
Kavarsky says she is taking other precautions such as distancing herself from parents and grandparents, as they are more susceptible.
Morabito also said she feels uneasy being around her elders.
“I am not comfortable being near my grandparents because of the fact that I could have the virus and not feel sick,” said Morabito.
Many college-aged people have been openly defying these strongly recommended precautions by going to the beach during their spring break.
Kavarsky says she feels frustrated by this.
“I honestly feel that some people are not taking it seriously and are still continuing to go out places. Even some people went on vacation due to the cheap flights which I find to be not smart. This is a dangerous virus that we need to take seriously because what happened in Italy can easily happen here,” said Kavarsky.
Senior Theresa Hulse says that she is worried.
“It is tough being a senior because I want to make sure I graduate. I have a lot of internal conflict because I want to stay in school, but it puts others’ health at risk,” said Hulse.
According to an article from the New York Post, Student Travel Services has only seen 20% of customers cancel their travel plans amid the pandemic.
