Coronavirus is on the rise globally and more significantly in the state of Washington where 10 deaths and at least 40 cases have been confirmed, with the actual numbers probably being much larger as the virus went undetected and could have mild symptoms which makes it easier for individuals to spread it without unintentionally. 

        The University of Washington contains close to 46 thousand students that either directly or indirectly come in contact in daily bases and include students who live in areas with high infections’ rates such as King County and Snohomish County. Symptoms can be mild and students can carry and spread the virus to many other students before realizing they have it, which makes it really hard to detect the virus. The nature of classes is that they contain close to 300 students and for the average student taking 15 credits (approximately 3-4) classes. This means that the student comes in contact with 900-1200 students multiple times in each week, one case of Coronavirus can infect many of these classmates which can infect their families and other people who they interact with. In other words, the University of Washington is an ideal place for Coronavirus to spread.

Coronavirus in Washington state is spreading rapidly and computational biologist Trevor Bedford warns of Seattle turning into the next Wuhan: “January 1 in Wuhan was March 1 in Seattle, now would be the time to start these interventions rather than waiting three weeks.” In the name of the university of Washington students, I ask those who make the decisions to consider the safety of students and residents of Washington state over economical and reputational aspects and to act before it’s too late.