Coronavirus, an invasive species?

ROSLYN HARBOR, NY — We are currently living in a unique place in time, and it seems that our world may never be the same. Humanity is being attacked by the unrelenting coronavirus, known to the medical profession as COVID-19, which is causing a significant disruption to the human ecosystem.

Coronavirus may turn out to be the most invasive disease in recorded history, as it rapidly ravages human health and its economy. Invasive species, such as displaced animals or plants, can destroy biodiversity by causing extinction and altering the environment. Coronavirus is affecting human health and changing world order, which dramatically affects the economic cycle. Life, as we knew it might be on its way to extinction caused by the coronavirus like the Asian long-horned beetle began to do in forests when it was introduced to North America in 1996.

The spread of invasive species is usually the result of human activities. The coronavirus emerged in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The virus quickly spread throughout the world through human travel, similar to the spread of the Asian longhorn beetle via intercontinental shipping from China.

The coronavirus is much more threatening since it seems to thrive in all climates and directly harms humans. The virus has rapidly spread across the world, prompting nations to implement a global shutdown with mandatory stay-at-home orders from various governments to help prevent further escalation.

It may be easier than you think to transport and contaminate the world with invasive species. When people travel to different regions, they may intentionally, or unintentionally carry animals, insects, or even a virus that could be invasive to other areas of the world.

Organisms can become attached to ships that travel to different continents where they can break off and multiply and consequently invade an ecosystem. Insects and even plants could become attached to vehicles and crates that get shipped around the world. These organisms can escape into the wild and become invasive to ecosystems. People who release pets into the wild could become intrusive to nearby wildlife. In the Everglades, Burmese pythons, which were originally pets, have been released and have been causing environmental struggles.

Coronavirus originated in China, but its cause remains to be seen. One theory is that it passively started in animals, but when it was introduced to humans, it actively spawned a pandemic.

Typically the reasons for the survival of invasive species are due to their specific ability to survive in similar living conditions from which they came. Coronavirus is highly adaptive, as demonstrated by it surviving temperatures in New York City when they were 55 degrees and New Orleans when they were 83 degrees. The fact that we don’t have a vaccine or medication to remediate the symptoms effectively are giving the virus a chance to thrive while using humans as a host.

I live in New York and go to school in New Orleans, where the virus is thriving. Now that I am back in New York and in quarantine, I can clearly see the world around me being affected.

It seems like our world is being invaded by the coronavirus, and everyone is retreating. It feels like life is on pause. My mother, father, and brother have not left our home for the past 42 days, nor have we allowed anyone inside. When I returned from New Orleans, my parents segregated me in our basement for 14 days to make sure I didn’t possibly contaminate them. Solitude began to feel like the new norm.

We have large food deliveries that we leave outside for two days before we retrieve them. My father then sprays them with alcohol while wearing a mask and gloves. It’s monumental to witness how we adapt to the fear of coronavirus. We used to accept packages without thinking twice, and people used to high-five, hug, and shake hands without fearing they’d catch a life-threatening illness. This virus is highly contagious and may change the way we interact with the world forever.

I’ve driven around a couple of times and went on a few walks during the past month and a half, and at times I was the only person on the streets. My town resembled an abandoned movie set.

One time, I drove past Tappan Beach in Sea Cliff New York and saw people walking on the sand and riding their bikes in the parking lot. They were all wearing masks and gloves and keeping a safe distance from each other. The image of anonymous people with matching protective gear was haunting. I couldn’t tell the young from the old, or the men from the women.

This beach is usually a care-free destination where people can display their freedom of expression. The restaurant is generally open with the aroma of hamburgers cooking on the grills. On this day, the restaurant was shuttered, and the only smell was the fabric of my mask. The Corona species invaded my habitat and damaged my ecosystem.

Factories have been shut down, and small businesses have been closed. Similar to certain species, they may not recover and become extinct. Most areas of the world are being closed off from each other, which led to the stalling of public transportation. The number of daily flights has dramatically decreased due to proactive measures to prevent the Coronavirus from spreading. The number of flights for New York’s John F. Kennedy airport went down almost 30% as compared to this time last year. Mayor de Blasio of New York City stated that, “No, we are not closing down transportation, we’re not closing down roads or bridges, we are not putting a curfew into effect or travel restrictions – TODAY. At any point in this trajectory, we may change that depending on the facts.” The world is getting very frightening, and it’s hard to think that the worst has yet to come.

Invasive species tend to keep multiplying until they have completely taken over an entire ecosystem unless they are stopped. The chief of the World Health Organization said a vaccine is the only thing that will stop this virus.

I believe we have to adhere to stay-at-home orders, support the essential front-line workers, and pray for an effective vaccination for the near term. If we keep transmitting this virus to each other, it’s almost equivalent to bringing more Asian longhorn beetles into our country.