Through the practice of hunting and gathering, infectious diseases began to spread throughout the human community, proliferating as society shifted towards an agricultural lifestyle 10,000 years ago.

In 2020, the Coronavirus spread exponentially; The World Health Organization announced on March 11, 2020, that the COVID-19 virus had spread across 114 countries, with more than 118,000 people infected within three months. Interestingly, the Black Death had its roots in or near China as well. Later, it followed the Middle East pilgrimage route and finally entered Europe via the Italian trade route.

Like the Coronavirus, the plague outbreak resulted in forced isolation of infected families, and a special task force was created to monitor and control the infection. The alarming similarities between these two events have contributed to the strong reactions by the public today.

Symptoms of the Coronavirus include fever, cough, and sore throat. It affects the entire body, especially the lungs. Transmission of the virus is almost exclusively from hands to face(into the eyes, nose, or mouth).

As high school students, we can do some simple things to help our community like maintaining social distance, always wearing a mask, exercising to build our immune system, and educating people around us about COVID-19 facts. On April 24th, I had an idea about how to use my little power to remind people of keeping social distances. I created my own T-shirt with the famous impressionist painter, Van Gogh, on the front of my shirt and “social distancing” on the back of my shirt. I sold these T-shirts for my neighbors and my friends. The purpose of doing this is not only to remind people about the importance of maintaining physical distance to prevent transmission but also fundraising to help people in need.

In social psychology, superordinate goals are defined as shared goals that can unite people who are typically in conflict or competition.

It usually requires two or more social groups to accomplish these goals together. Because of the rapid spread of COVID-19 around the world, many are confused and afraid. We may see an unexpected superordinate goal occur, which is rapidly bringing together countries, cities, citizens, and experts for survival and healthy life. I hope this unprecedented disease will unite different racial groups instead of incubating the diseases of fear and blame so that we can improve our social climate worldwide.

<Bowen Maggie Tang / Northwood High School 12th Grade>