Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Assignment – Answer the following questions in a simple essay format: (30 pts)
You might recall from our syllabus, some of the learning outcomes for this course are to develop the ability to locate relevant information and evaluate its validity and to extract accurate information related to microbiology from everyday sources. Given that we have seen our lives significantly impacted by COVID-19, this seems like the perfect time for you to put your nascent microbiology knowledge to the test and to exercise your ability to determine if what you are hearing and reading is valid or misguided and to apply what we learn in this course on this pandemic situation.
So, for this project, I ask you to:
Read this article: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01834-3 (Links to an external site.) AND/OR
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/08/technology/coronavirus-misinformation-social-media.html (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
2. Now read this second article:
https://www.genengnews.com/news/coronavirus-evolved-naturally-and-is-not-a-laboratory-construct-genetic-study-shows/ (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
Then use https://www.cdc.gov/ (Links to an external site.) and https://www.who.int/ (Links to an external site.) websites to learn more about the COVID-19 pandemic.
With these readings completed, write an essay paper (approximately 1000 words) where you discuss the following:
A- After reading the two articles listed above, briefly summarize the threat of misinformation presented in the first article and explain in your own words the science summarized in the second article and how it might help set the record straight.
B- Within your paper, briefly explain the following about the COVID-19:
What type of Coronavirus is?
Classification, structure, pathogenicity.
The clinical signs, symptoms, and complications.
Molecular mechanisms of the viral life cycle: cell entry, genome replication, etc
Quantitative analysis: what is the mortality rate for COVID-19? Why do some reports describe the rate as lower? Higher? How does that compare with the original SARS outbreak from 2003? MERS from 2012? Influenza from 1918?
Epidemiological analysis: how the infection spread? What are the preventive and control measures recommended by the public health officials to slow the spread of this infection?
Experimental immunizations and treatment protocols for this viral disease.
– Citations (you must use a minimum of 3 reputable sources). You may use any single, consistent style such as MLA, AAA, Chicago etc. to report citations (https://calstatela.libguides.com/c.php?g=767431&p=5504995 (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)). The citations do not count in your final word count.
– This is NOT a long paper, so be concise and deliberate with your writing! Please double-space and submit the paper via Canvas by 5/8/20.
– Format: 0.8-inch borders, page numbers, font Times New Roman, font size 12, double-spaced, about 4 pages for the written component.
