Rachael Watson, Staff Writer

The Ebola virus is big news, and for good reason. But, the way I see it panic and fear are spreading faster than the actual virus these days. I agree that this is a serious matter that should be handled with the utmost seriousness and caution, however America and the rest of the world needs to take a step back and calm down. It is panic and fear that we make our greatest mistakes. We all need to assess the situation with a level head. We need to distinguish between facts and speculation, between media exaggeration and the truth. The fact is that Ebola has reached America, and it can be deadly, as there is no known cure for the virus at this time. However, this virus is not airborne. This means that unless you come into contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, the chances of you catching the illness are slim to none. As college students we should, to an extent, be aware of the people we come into contact with, keep up with the news, maintain healthy hygiene habits, and continue with our day to day lives. Worrying and stressing over something like this will not make it go away. Yet, as a country, there are several things I believe we should be doing. First, why hasn’t anyone closed our borders with the infected areas of Africa, at least temporarily? If we quit sharing the virus back and forth with other countries, we will be able to evaluate the situation more clearly. Secondly, there are four hospitals in the United States that are fully equipped to deal with the Ebola virus, so instead of placing the suspected patient in any of the other thousands of medical institutions, we should bring them to a place where their chance of survival is higher, and chance of infecting others is lower. On this note, we should be providing protective gear to hospital staff, nurses and doctors. They can’t fight this disease if they cannot keep themselves healthy in the meantime. And lastly, this virus needs to be contained in some manner. As for how, I am not qualified to say, as I am not educated on disease control but, I know that there are people in this country who are. Isolation for patients, even possible patients, will help stop the spread of the virus, and those who are infected will be able to have more of the focus on their return to good health. So, in conclusion the government needs to step up their game, citizens need to refrain from panic, and we all could do to remember that this is not the first outbreak of a disease in this world, and it won’t be the last, we will make it through.