Fears over the coronavirus spreading continue to mount in the US, especially after new cases of the virus were confirmed in New York and Rhode Island over the weekend. Stoking panic even further this morning is a headline-making interview one Pennsylvania father gave Fox News, in which he appears to cough uncontrollably, not long after he and his daughter were medically cleared and released from quarantine in San Diego, California.
According to Fox, Frank Wucinski and his 3-year-old daughter, Annabel, were actually quarantined twice after evacuating Wuhan, China.
Wucinski and his wife, who is of Chinese descent, have lived in China for more than 15 years. For the last few months, they've been based in Wuhan, the current epicenter of the virus, to help take care of his wife's father following the death of his mother-in-law.
But as coronavirus cases began to climb into the hundreds — and then thousands — within Wuhan, his father-in-law became yet another victim of the deadly virus and died.
The family evacuated the Chinese city soon after, and were quarantined at Marine Corps Miramar Airbase in San Diego.
Once there, they were immediately separated and put into isolation for several days, over concern about their contact with Wucinski's father-in-law.
"Then, a few days later, Annabel just coughed in front of some staff," Wucinski shared in the live TV segment of America's Newsroom. "They suggested we go to the medical tent. The medical tent contacted the CDC and they said that we should go back to isolation at the children's hospital. So, we stayed there for about three days."
They were finally cleared for release February 20, when all of their tests came back negative.
"I mean, I know just from my experience being in Wuhan when it all first started it was scary," the father said. "You just didn't know what was happening and what was going on."
"I think as time goes forward, hopefully, doctors and scientists will get a better handle on the whole situation," he continued. "Fortunately — from what I understand, you know — it is contagious, but the death rate is pretty low. So, yeah, I understand the fear."
The news segment was intended to share the inside story of a father who had come so close to the virus and yet managed to escape unscathed.
And yet, as the interview progressed, there was just one tiny thing many eagle-eyed viewers couldn't help but notice: Wucinski paused several times to cough throughout the entire interview, almost being unable to finish his sentences at times.
And that's not all.
At one point, the father even reached over to take a swig from his daughter's water bottle, before handing it right back to her.
Seconds later, she drank from it herself.
It was a moment meant to calm growing fears about the virus' rapid spread, but instead, it just reinforced panic over whether the coronavirus is truly being contained — and how long it really takes for symptoms to appear.
Over the weekend, the clip took Twitter by storm, where people had LOTS to say about it.
(Most of the comments did not exactly go easy on the dad.)
"He coughs into his hand and immediately puts it up in her face, then he takes her water, drinks from it and gives it back to her!?!" one person tweeted. "Who let this man reproduce?"
"Okay that was disgusting and irritating!" tweeted another. "He is an IDIOT. Just stupid, almost negligent father! Cough all on her head, into his hand, grabbing her water bottle, drinking from it and then giving it back. Idc if you are both sick — that’s gross and that’s how you stay sick longer."
Another person called it "parental negligence on screen."
Several others took issue with the fact that the dad said he believed his daughter coughed because of "nerves" when they were initially being checked, which is why they were flagged.
"Also, I’ve never heard of nerves spontaneously inducing a cough?" one person tweeted. "I HAVE heard of someone who’s just been very sick, start coughing when they try to speak too much … "
Some people pointed out that the dad and daughter could merely have a cold and not the actual coronavirus.
That could explain the coughing symptoms, they reasoned, but also why the father and daughter tested negative for the virus.
Others, however, pointed to the fact that the coronavirus does not always present visible symptoms in its carriers. Osamah Alwalid, a radiologist at Wuhan Union Hospital who has been studying the impact of the virus on lung health, told New Scientist that this might be because those patients have stronger immune symptoms.
In fact, medical experts have said that the coronavirus seems to take the toughest toll on the elderly and immunocompromised.
Still, many doctors are reminding Americans that influenza poses a greater risk in the US than the coronavirus.
"I think people are freaking out too much," Dr. Thomas File, chairman of the infectious disease division for Summa Health and president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, told USA Today. "I think there’s unnecessary hysteria when people are wearing masks and it’s not necessary. Right now, we’re much more concerned about the flu than the coronavirus."
Each year, the flu is responsible for between 12,000 and 61,000 deaths in the United States alone — and last year, it claimed the lives of nearly 34,000.
In comparison, the global coronavirus death toll has surpassed 3,000 since late December, with nearly 89,000 confirmed cases in 71 countries worldwide. Here in the US, there have been 87 confirmed cases so far, though the majority of them are quarantined evacuees from the Diamond Princess cruise ship that had been traveling to Japan in early February. Several other patients also had recently returned from travels overseas.
To date, the US death toll stands at two, but with more cases cropping up each week, it's understandable that Americans remain on edge.
According to File, it's important to note that although these climbing numbers do seem scary, based on the data we have so far, the coronavirus has a 2% to 2.5% mortality rate.
"I think that’s an overestimate," File told USA Today. Still, "what is difficult with this strain is it appears people can have it, not be sick and potentially transmit it," he continued.
For the time being, the public is urged to increase handwashing with soap and water, and limit contact with others who might be ill.
Vice President Pence also announced over the weekend that the White House remained dedicated to staying on top of containing the virus, by enforcing travel restrictions and working closely with the Food and Drug Administration on a vaccine that will hopefully become available for the next viral season.
"The reality … is that for most people that contract the coronavirus, they will recover," Pence assured viewers on CNN’s State of the Union. "But for people that have other conditions, that would militate toward a worse outcome, that we could have more sad news."
