Pandemic Research Essay Paper Exploring SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19: Pandemic 2020

Pandemic Research Essay Paper Exploring SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19: Pandemic 2020

Exploring SARS-CoV-2 & COVID-19: Pandemic 2020
Research papers and Peer Review Guide
For the research paper you will be working in groups of 3-4 to research and discuss topics relating to
the novel virus SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19. You have many options to choose from – researching the
possible origins, transmission, and evolution of the virus, as well as the epidemiology of COVID-19
including symptoms, treatment, testing, racial disparities, and global consequences. You can discuss
how information about the virus and disease has been disseminated to the public, and the importance
of evidence-based practices in public health. Your group will take on community roles to write your
research paper and provide at least 3-4 references (at least one reference per person). Please come up
with a very unique and catchy title for your paper too (the best titles get extra credit points)
Each group can pick from one of the following discussion topics. You should divvy up the questions to
research within your topic and everyone should contribute an equal amount to get to a 4-page paper.
Since you’re taking different roles in the community this is not a typical research paper because you
can write it like a “script” depending on the roles in the community you choose to portray. You will
turn in the assignment to iLearn under “assisgnments”. Please only turn one paper in for the whole
group but be sure to put everyone’s full name (in alphabetical order by last name) on the paper
and if anyone is from a different section than where you are turning it in you should put the name and
section #. (Also please use the name on the roster rather than nick names.) The paper can be in the
form of a university lecture, press release, newscast, grand rounds, community forum, or legislative
arguments depending on how you want to present your research. Depending on which topic you are
presenting, you will assume the role of professors, healthcare officials, community leaders,
politicians/legislators, research clinicians, conservationists or members of the media in order to
convey your information.
There are many suggested questions within your main topic. You can choose which ones interest you
the most, or come up with new questions within your topic to explore. Specific examples and statistics
are also important to convey information. If you want to include graphs, tables or other info-graphics
they should not count towards the 4 page minimum written report. You can go over 4 pages of
research if you need to, but you will be deducted points if it is shorter than 4 pages – please use
Cambria 12 pt font, double spaced, regular margins (.8” or less) and don’t forget the catchy title
on the 1st page (no title page is needed). Please put your names at the very end of the paper on
the last page after the references and put the title on that last page as well as at the top of the 1st
page. You will be swapping papers with classmate later in the semester for the peer review so
keep your document somewhere on your computer where you will remember where it is for
later reference.
Pandemic 2020 Discussion Topics:
• Virus Background information: this should include structure, possible origination,
classification, and transmission. Where and how did this virus emerge and how has it mutated
and replicated? What is the structure of this virus such as whether it is an RNA or DNA virus
and how many nucleotides is it composed of? How many proteins does it code for? How does it
attach to a host cell? What are the different viruses within the Corona Viruses family that are
able to infect humans? How can we avoid similar novel virus transmissions, and how did it
spread so quickly throughout the world?
• Exploring the health affects of Covid-19: What are some of the viral affects and host immune
system responses that are causing the varying symptoms of Covid-19? Is this infection
primarily a respiratory or cardiovascular disease? What are some pre-existing health risks or
life style choices that lead to more severe outcomes? Do different blood types pose different
threats of COVID-19 progression? If so why? Tie some of these topics into the theory of Natural
Selection – are some people better adapted to survive this pathogen? Have bats and other
corona virus hosts evolved to survive this virus? What is the Red Queen Hypothesis and how
does it relate to pathogen evolution and resistance?
• Community connections: What information was disseminated to the community during the
start of the pandemic? Were there disparities in recommendations, community compliance, and
opinions? If so, were these disparities based on geography, education, race, political
preferences, or other factors? How well did our country responded to the spread of the virus in
general compared to other top infected nations? If you were to give out recommendations to
the country to stop the spread of the virus and disease what would your main messages be?
• Racial disparities: Are there disparities in the spread, testing, treatment, and death rates from
SARS-CoV-2 by race? If so, how? How did the Black Lives Matter Protests in June 2020 affect the
spread of the virus and COVID-19 cases? Did the police reaction to protestors in some cases
(tear gas, incarceration, violence) affect the pandemic? How has our country responded to the
increased cases of COVID-19 in the jails and prisons? How are refugees and immigrants
detained in ICE and other detention facilities being treated and tested? What legislation would
you propose to improve relations, conditions and equality in America? What are city, state and
federal politicians doing in regards to racial disparities, white supremacy and police brutality in
our country?
• Scientific Research: What are the different types of testing and how effective are they in
detecting the virus and COVID-19? What are the different types of vaccinations and treatments
being developed and tested? Are strategies such as testing and contact tracing effective to slow
the spread of the virus? What are the most effective strategies being implemented to “flatten
the curve” so far in the U.S. and around the world? Are health care professionals using the steps
of the scientific method to answer questions about the virus? How? What % of the population
needs to be resistant to the virus in order to acquire herd immunity? What are the best longterm plans for reaching our herd immunity goal?
• Ecology and Conservation Connections: How is the pandemic affecting anthropogenic
climate change, pollution, wildlife exploitation, human population and carrying capacity around
the globe? What legislation has been proposed to help our planet in response to this pandemic?
What would you propose? What are some post-pandemic predictions? (What will our society
be like after this event, we will learn from our mistakes? Will we be better prepared or
educated in order to avoid future pandemics and become more respectful of our planet?)
Discuss ecology and conservation issues related to this pandemic.
original paper and paste after your name page so that I can see which paper you reviewed.
(Points will be deducted if you are missing the original paper so please make sure to attach it to
your peer review.)
Good luck!!
Reference suggestions for the research portion: (You can find many more references for your
particular topics but here are a variety of articles to get you started. Don’t forget to include
your references in your “script” / research paper and please do MLA format, not just urls. (MLA
format includes the article title, author, source, date AND the URL if you found it on-line – see
below for examples of the write format)
Let’s Science up about Covid 19!! 4/28/20 Hosted by the Department of Biology SF
State University

The American Virus
Eliot Weinberger, London Review of Books, Vol. 42 No. 11 · 4 June 2020
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v42/n11
How We Broke The World Greed and Globalization Set us up for Disaster, Thomas L.
Friedman, New York Times, May 30th 2020, Opinion

How Corona Virus Hijacks Your Cells
Jonathan Corum & Carl Zimmer, New York Times, Science. 3/13/20
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/11/science/how-coronavirus-hijacksyour-cells.html
Where Pandemics Come From and How to Stop Them. Extinction Countdown John R
Platt, The Revelator, 3/23/20
From Bats to Human Lungs, The Evolution of a Corona Virus
Carolyn Korman. The New Yorker 3/27/20
Bad News Wrapped in Protein: Inside the Corona Virus Genome – Jonathan Corum &
Carl Zimmer. New York Times 4/3/20
Coronavirus May Be a Blood Vessel Disease, Which Explains Everything
Many of the infection’s bizarre symptoms have one thing in common
Dana G Smith May 28th 2020
https://elemental.medium.com/coronavirus-may-be-a-blood-vessel-disease-which-explains-everything-2c4032481ab2
Identifying airborne transmission as the dominant route for the spread of COVID-19
Renyi Zhang, Yixin Li, Annie L. Zhang, Yuan Wang, and Mario J. Molina
PNAS first published June 11, 2020
https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/06/10/2009637117
Smoking Is Associated With COVID-19 Progression: A Meta-Analysis
Roengrudee Patanavanich 1 2 , Stanton A Glantz 1
PMID: 32399563 PMCID: PMC7239135 DOI: 10.1093/ntr/ntaa082
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32399563/
Tear-Gassing Protesters During An Infectious Outbreak Called ‘A Recipe For Disaster’
June 5, 20206:00 AM ET
WILL STONE, NPR.org
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/06/05/870144402/tear-gassingprotesters-during-an-infectious-outbreak-called-a-recipe-for-disast
Open Letter from 1288 Physicians, health care workers, infectious disease professionals and
community stakeholders supporting anti-racism protests:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Jyfn4Wd2i6bRi12ePghMHtX3ys1b7K1A/view
COVID-19 public health information from CDC: https://www.coronavirus.gov .
Get the latest research from NIH: https://www.nih.gov/coronavirus.
Find NCBI SARS-CoV-2 literature, sequence, and clinical content:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sars-cov-2/.
SF Covid Case Data:
https://data.sfgov.org/stories/s/adm5-wq8i