Television and radio news outlets are providing updates on the current spread of the Coronavirus.

The Coronavirus first presented itself to the medical researchers in 1960 when it was found in the respiratory tract of a patient with a common cold. It gets its name from the crown-like spikes which radiate out from all over the surface of the virus. Its discovery created the new form of virus, Coronaviridae. 

Two other forms of the Coronavirus that can be transferred from animals to humans exist. They are the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which was introduced into the human population in 2003 when a farmer in Guangdong China got it from a civet — a cat-like animal. Then in 2012, the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus was isolated in a patient in Saudi Arabia. SARS spread to 37 different countries infecting a total of 8,448 patients and killing 858; the spillover came from Camels.

The current form of coronavirus is called Novel Coronavirus ( 2019-nCoV or COVID-19). It presented itself to the human population sometime in the early part of December 2019. We still do not know the exact origin of its jump from an animal to a human. Originally, the Chinese government claimed that the first case came from a Chinese Wet market located in Wuhan.

• Fact: The Wuhan Wet market was inspected by government officials two months before the outbreak 
• Fact: Wuhan Institute of Virology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was established in 2015 in Hubei China. This facility is the only Level BSL4 laboratory in China
• Fact: The Wuhan Institute is currently conducting studies with the coronavirus. This is known by the scientific papers published by staff members.
• Fact: This new illness presented itself during the largest human migration of the year: the Chinese New Year celebration. Over 1.5 billion people are on the move across the globe visiting family members
• Fact: This illness presented itself during the normal flu season
• Fact:  This illness appears to have a 14-day incubation period and the illness can be spread asymptomatically meaning it can be contagious even before the symptoms present themselves
• Fact: 2019-nCoV has no natural immunity
• Fact: There is no vaccine available
• Fact: Chinese officials have now stated it spreads by way of droplets and aerosols

Nadine Gurr and Benjamin Cole stated in their book The New Face of Terrorism, threats from weapons of mass destruction: “Outside of war situations, states have used NBC weapons for covert operations many times.” As an example, they mention that “in the 1970s, Cuba accused the U.S.A. of being responsible for blue mold found on their tobacco crops, and cane smut on sugar cane. But since these blights are not unknown to Cuba, it’s impossible to tell if this was a covert Biological Weapons (BW) attack.”

The mayor of Wuhan was told by the Central Government of China to keep the outbreak of this new virus secret. He allowed five million people to leave Wuhan before steps were taken to restrict travel from the infected region. These five million people were the initial carriers of COVID-19.

My contention is that this outbreak was a test to see how effectively this new weaponized virus would spread. History has shown that the Central Government of China cares little about its population. I would not be surprised if this were a test that has spun completely out of control. 

The reason I believe that COVID-19 has been weaponized is that it is highly contagious even before symptoms start appearing in the victims. The one major diagnostic test used by officials to control the spread of the disease is checking the temperature of the patient and if they have a fever then they are suspected of having the virus. However, COVID-19 can be spread by patients who are asymptomatic, which means that symptoms wouldn’t show yet. Passengers carrying COVID-19 can easily pass through airport checkpoints undetected and they are still contagious. 

For a practical resource on how to deal with the Coronavirus, visit Apple iBooks.