By Kiara Rivera

A new virus that is now popularly known as COVID-19 has spread through multiple countries. It has spread over every continent (except Antartica) and has changed the way that communities and people go about their lives. This is something that nobody was prepared for, but the United States government took the necessary precautions to keep its people, finally.

Considering the outbreak of the virus in the United States, it is clear that the government was not prepared to deal with it. As the health of many Americans was in jeopardy, the government finally responded by imposing restrictions and curfews to limit the amount of social interaction between people.

The coronavirus was first seen and discovered in Wuhan, China. It was under supervision by China’s government as a result of the first death they have had due to the Coronavirus in January 11, 2020. Ten days later, the United States had their first confirmed case of the coronavirus appear in Washington state. This man had traveled to Wuhan previously and contracted the virus. Unknowingly, he returned back to the United States and thus the United States now had their first case.

One month later, the United States experienced their first case of local transmission and death due to the COVID-19 virus. Considering that there were only a small number of people affected by the virus, the United States still didn’t impose any restrictions.

It wasn’t until March that the United States thought that it was time to take action against the highly contagious virus. President Trump had declared a national emergency on March 13, 2020 due to the rapidly increasing number of cases. He stated that by declaring a national emergency, $50 billion in federal funding would be utilized to fight the outbreak of COVID-19.

At this point, the cases were increasing at an alarming rate. The CDC took action by warning the general public about large gatherings. “Large events and mass gatherings can contribute to the spread of COVID-19 in the United States via travelers who attend these events and introduce the virus to new communities.”

The CDC opened up the doors to restrictions that were going to be imposed by the government in the future by explaining the risk of conducting large events and gatherings. Schools and non-essential businesses began to close and people were not allowed to come within six feet of each other. It was very hard for many citizens to abide by these rules considering that they wanted to see their loved ones. Many sacrifices were made by the citizens of the United States in an attempt to keep the spread of this virus under control.

High school and college graduates were forced to trade in their senior activities for the safety of themselves, their classmates and the citizens of the United States. As you walk the streets, all you see are the use of masks and gloves. As you go to buy your groceries, you see a line of people outside of the establishment to prevent overcrowding within the establishment.

Although the United States has experienced a severe outbreak of cases within the country, the precautions that have been imposed have shown to be effective as the number of cases are now beginning to decrease, finally.