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| − | {{comic
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| − | | number = 2275
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| − | | date = March 2, 2020
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| − | | title = Coronavirus Name
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| − | | image = coronavirus_name.png
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| − | | titletext = It's important to keep the spider from touching your face.
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| − | }}
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| − | ==Explanation==
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| − | {{incomplete|Created by a MUTANT T. ANNEXA WOLF SPIDER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
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| − | This comic is the first comic in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] about the {{w|2019–20 coronavirus outbreak|2020 pandemic}} of the {{w|coronavirus}} - {{w|SARS-CoV-2}}.
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| − | This is thus [[Randall|Randall's]] first take on the coronavirus outbreak. As of the publication date (March 2, 2020), the outbreak had infected more than 90,000 people, and had caused more than 3000 deaths.
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| − | The disease caused by the virus was officially named {{w|Coronavirus disease 2019|COVID-19}} on 11 February 2020, as "coronavirus" is a category of viruses named for their appearance, which is similar to a halo or crown, and includes four different viruses which can cause the common cold in humans. However, the virus itself is not called COVID-19, but is called {{w|severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2}} (SARS-CoV-2). So calling the virus or disease "coronavirus" is like calling a specific strain of flu ''The Influenza virus''. However, since the new coronavirus is so hyped in the media it has attracted so much attention, so the name "Coronavirus" has become associated with COVID-19, making it difficult to discuss other types of coronavirus later on.
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| − | As of March 2, 2020, COVID-19 in China has a 20% hospitalization rate and a 2% death rate by current estimates, compared to a [https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-myths.html typical rate of around 0.1% for the flu in the US].
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| − | In this comic, researchers [[Ponytail]], [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are discussing that it is by now too late to try calling the disease its official name COVID-19, as the name coronavirus has stuck. [[Cueball]] reacts with dismay, since there are many other types of coronaviruses.
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| − | The comic becomes absurd when Ponytail compares the coronavirus naming to a giant "car eating spider" living on top of the skyscrapers of the town, which is also just called "The Spider" even though it is technically a mutated ''{{w|Tigrosa annexa}}'' {{w|wolf spider}}. Everyone knows what you mean when you say "Coronavirus", as they do when you mention "The Spider".
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| − | [[Megan]] then asks if they should not also do something about the spider, but Ponytail and Cueball agree that they can only tackle one problem at a time, and coronavirus takes up all their time. Only thing is that Ponytail now takes another commute, probably to avoid getting her car eaten.
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| − | On a more serious note, the comic may also reference the fact that that there are many other problems in the world (both spider and non-spider related {{Citation needed}}) that kill many more people and cause more problems. So this draws a humorous comparison to the fact that we seem to have forgotten about all the wars, etc and focus just on the virus.
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| − | The title text references the health advice that people avoid touching their face with unwashed hands, in order to prevent infections that they picked up by touching things from entering their mucous membranes. (It's a lot easier for an infection to enter the body through the inside of your nose than your hands.) It is likewise quite important to keep the giant spider from touching your face, but for the dissimilar reason that it might bite and eat you.
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| − | ==Transcript==
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| − | :[Megan is carrying a box with biohazard symbols on it towards a desk where Ponytail (wearing safety glasses) is working on a laptop, across from Cueball (also wearing safety glasses) who is putting a test tube into a centrifuge. There's also a flask on the desk.]
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| − | :Ponytail: Feels like we missed the window for the "COVID-19" renaming. "Coronavirus" is just too catchy.
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| − | :Cueball: But it's not specific! There are a lot of coronaviruses.
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| − | :[In a frameless panel, Ponytail (still wearing safety glasses) is pointing at a screen or picture showing a modern city skyline with a large spider crawling across three of the high-rise buildings.]
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| − | :Ponytail: I think it's fine. It's like, you know the giant spider downtown that sits on the buildings and sometimes eats cars? I think ''technically'' it's a mutant ''T. annexa'' wolf spider, but everyone is just calling it "the spider" and we all know what they mean.
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| − | :[Back to the setting from the first panel. Megan is standing and Ponytail had turned towards her and Cueball has stepped back from the machine.]
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| − | :Megan: I've been meaning to ask, what's '''''with''''' that spider? Should we...do something?
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| − | :Ponytail: Honestly I've been too busy with the virus stuff to look into it-I just changed my commute to avoid Main St.
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| − | :Cueball: Yeah, that's fair. One thing at a time.
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| − | {{comic discussion}}
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| − | [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
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| − | [[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
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| − | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
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| − | [[Category:COVID-19]]
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| − | [[Category:Science]]
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| − | [[Category:Spiders]]
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