Page 21 - March April 2020 TPA

While making New and mysterious illnesses are a
catalyst for panic and unrest in society,
international and it is fear of the unknown that
exacerbates these feelings. The 2019
headlines Novel Coronavirus, now officially called
SARS-CoV-2, and the disease it causes,
currently, called COVID-19, are the culprit behind

rising levels of fear and unease on a
coronavirus is global scale. People wonder how bad
it will really get, if they will be impacted,
not unfamiliar how the government will respond, and

what it will look like in the United States.
to the medical The media sensationalizes these types
of situations, capitalizing on widespread
community, uncertainty and lack of knowledge,

and throwing around alarming
and in some words that cause far-reaching public
panic. The over-saturation of fervent
forms, this media coverage often provides more

questions than answers at a time when
family of viruses anxious people cling to whatever shreds
of information they can find. Rather
are responsible than being reassured with reputable

information from legitimate sources,
for diseases people are often pushed further into
distress by the frenzy they see across
such as the various media platforms.

common cold. According to the World Health
Organization (WHO) a pandemic
is defined as the uncontrollable
“worldwide spread” of a new disease.
The last reported pandemic before
COVID-19 was the 2009 H1N1 or
“Swine Flu,” which claimed hundreds
of thousands of lives internationally. In
the medical community, definitions of
what constitutes the label of pandemic
are subjective, however, as of March
11, 2020, the outbreak of COVID-19

14 www.texaspoliceassociation.com • (512) 458-3140 Texas Police Journal