As Coronavirus infects thousands around the world, 15 cases have been confirmed in Florida. All cases but one are people over the age of 50, including two deaths. Following Gov. Ron DeSantis declaring a state of emergency, events, including the state science fair and a global health conference scheduled to take place in Orlando, have been canceled.

“I think that since there are multiple cases in Florida, there’s going to be a lot of public events that are going be closed,” Christian Garcia (9) said. “Even if I do catch it, I don’t think it’ll be that big of a deal since it only kills people who are old or who have bad immune systems. So I’m not really too worried about it.”

Universities, including Harvard, have shut down and shifted to distance learning. In addition, some public school systems in Washington state have been closed as well. However, no schools in Florida have been impacted as of yet.

“Once it probably reaches here there will be some school closures,” Max Vu (9) said. “I’ve heard that it doesn’t have much effect on people our age, but I am aware that the older population is at higher risk of dying so that might be a problem.”

The disease caused by the virus is named COVID-19, which infects people through contact with bodily fluids. New testing kits have been dispersed throughout the country to combat the spread. Symptoms include trouble breathing, high fever and in severe cases pneumonia.

By Victor Liu