Before learning about how to prevent COVID-19 from spreading on our campus, it is important to know what it is and where it came from.

What is COVID-19?

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by the most recently discovered coronavirus. Coronaviruses are a large, diverse group of viruses that get their name from the crownlike features they possess. The specific coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is called SARS coronavirus two, or SARS-CoV-2 for short. Once infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, people develop an illness called COVID-19, an acronym for Coronavirus Disease 2019. Infection in humans ranges from very mild symptoms to more severe symptoms and even death.

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Where did COVID-19 come from?

SARS-CoV-2 originated in bats and emerged in Wuhan, China toward the end of 2019. It was not manufactured in a lab or created as a biochemical weapon. The virus developed the ability to jump between species and began spreading from bats to humans. This natural phenomenon has led to the pandemic that we are now experiencing.

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