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Is Coronavirus Contagious?

By Sally Fallon Morell

s coronavirus contagious? This is the sixty-four-
thousand-dollar question. The premise that coronavirus

Iis highly contagious and can cause disease has provided
the justification for putting entire nations on lockdown,

destroying the global economy and throwing hundreds

of thousands out of work. From face masks to social

distancing, from antivirals to vaccines, these measures are
predicated on the assumption that tiny viruses can cause
serious illness and that such illness is transmissible person-

to-person. But is coronavirus contagious? Does it even
cause disease?

As early as 1799, researchers puzzled over the cause of influenza, which
appeared suddenly—often in diverse places at the same time—and could
not be explained by any theory of contagion. In 1836, Heinrich Schweich,
author of a book on influenza, noted that all physiological processes produce
electricity and offered the theory that an electrical disturbance of the
atmosphere may prevent the body from discharging it. He repeated the
then-common belief that the accumulation of electricity in the body causes
the symptoms of influenza and that outbreaks were due to atmospheric
“influences”—hence the name influenza.

SUMMER 2020 Wise Traditions 15