Cytokines Vs. Proteins: Living in a Coronavirus Hot Zone

At first it was funny watching these Facebook videos coming out of China. You had police officers harassing citizens of Wuhan, a city of 11 million, for not wearing face masks. What the heck was their problem? Don't the cops have anything better to do? Well, apparently, there was some strange respiratory virus going around in mid-January--we called it the Corona. 

We'd make jokes at the public high school at which I teach about getting the Corona; moments after watching a video about it in class, students would say they wished they had the virus so they didn't have to go to school anymore--like the kids in Wuhan in lockdown who couldn't leave their homes because of this so-called Corona. My kids thought those kids in China were so lucky. 

In these first videos, the masked cops of Wuhan would knock on doors and question people who had refused masks. One of two things would happen. Either they smiled, bowed and were handed a mask, or they'd say no and take off running. The police would chase those in denial, blowing their whistles until the person was caught, hitting them with batons to drag them into compliance. 

That is, unless the tables turned and the unmasked person being chased came running after the masked cops! My students would die laughing. The police sure got out of dodge fast, and, as a class we'd talk about what these cops were running from. Nobody had a clue. You could buy 10 masks for $3 at Walgreens, an aide said, so what's the problem because this mystery virus is just like the flu, right? 

Another aide added awkwardly maybe they didn't get their flu...SHOTS? A student, however, said he'd never wear a mask, no matter what, not even if you paid him. Several other students agreed. They saw it as a violation of their freedom. One said, nobody will ever tell him what to do. Being that this was a behavior unit, I did raise my eyebrow at that comment. 

Looking back, there was a detail to the videos I now find odd. The accompanying music to the video was usually pop--with sound effects for emphasis. Lots of boings and wows. Needless to say, we got hooked. To us teachers, we thought the daily videos reminded us of the old goofy Bugs Bunny-Road Runner show we'd watch every Saturday when we were kids. 

Besides, Valentines Day was coming and the mood was light. The students just returned from Christmas break with a new lease on life. About half were on track to graduate in May. And, some of the answers received on the videos were thoughtful. Would the citizens be okay, asked one. What do they like to do there, asked another. Probably the same stuff as you, I replied. 

Another video we watched was about a wet market in Wuhan, outlining where and in which animal the virus might have originated. Goofy elevator music played. My students were glued. One started Googling photos of bat soup--followed by snake, pangolin and alligator soups on his Chromebook and showed these to the class. I was ready to vomit, as were the aides. 

As the weeks went on though, these educational videos--which at first seemed so harmless and good-natured--became more serious in tone and intent. Gone were the goofy cartoons, replaced by more foreboding background music and even worse outcomes. The one constant: all of these videos were very slickly produced--perhaps too much so, if you're asking this former TV and news producer.