The viral test

To limit Covid-19's spread, Americans will need social cohesion and smart leadership

Coronavirus.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

This is the editor’s letter in the current issue of The Week magazine.

Viruses, strictly speaking, are not alive. They are tiny sets of genes bundled within protein shells, with one singular function — to replicate. Lacking cells or other common features of living organisms, viruses are parasitic zombies. They infect living cells, hijack the genetic machinery, and mass-produce replicas of themselves. (A single sneeze can release 100,000 viruses into the air.) The common cold is a virus, and so are influenza, measles, HIV, and Ebola. The new coronavirus, Covid-19, has joined the list of humanity's viral scourges, after apparently jumping species from its original host, bats. It has sickened more than 80,000 people and, infectious-disease experts say, it's coming to America. One way or another, it will affect all of our lives.

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William Falk

William Falk is editor-in-chief of The Week, and has held that role since the magazine's first issue in 2001. He has previously been a reporter, columnist, and editor at the Gannett Westchester Newspapers and at Newsday, where he was part of two reporting teams that won Pulitzer Prizes.