Avirusisreallyjustahullaroundgeneticmaterialandafewproteins,arguably,notevenalivingthing.Itcanonlymakemoreofitselfbyenteringalivingcell.Coronamayspreadviasurfaces,butit’sstilluncertainhowlongitcansurviveonthem.Itsmainwayofspreadingseemstobedropletinfectionwhenpeoplecough,orifyoutouchsomeonewho’sillandthenyourface,say,rubbingyoureyesornose.病毒只是基因物质和少量蛋白质的外壳，严格来说甚至不是生物。病毒只有通过进入生物细胞才能复制。冠状病毒尽管可以通过表面扩散，但它能存活多久却仍是个谜。冠状病毒的主要传播方式是飞沫传播，例如有人在咳嗽，或者接触病人后触摸眼睛或者鼻子等面部器官的时候。Thevirusstartsitsjourneyhere,andthenhitchesarideasastowawaydeeperintothebody.Itsdestinationsaretheintestines,thespleenorthelungs,whereitcanhavethemostdramaticeffect.Evenjustafewcoronavirusescancausequiteadramaticsituation.Thelungsarelinedwithbillionsofepithelial[??p??θi?lj?l]cells.Thesearethebordercellsofyourbody,liningyourorgansandmucosa[mju?ko?s?]waitingtobeinfected.冠状病毒的旅程便从此开始，然后搭顺风车潜入身体深处，终点站一般是肠道，脾肺，在这些地方它最能大展拳脚。即使是少量冠状病毒也能造成巨大影响。肺遍布着数以亿计的上皮细胞。这些便是你身体的边境细胞，覆盖在器官与粘膜内部以应对感染。Coronaconnectstoaspecificreceptoronitsvictim’smembranes[?membre?n]toinjectitsgeneticmaterial.Thecell,ignorantofwhat’shappening,executesthenewinstructions,whichareprettysimple:copyandreassemble.Itfillsupwithmoreandmorecopiesoftheoriginalvirusuntilitreachesacriticalpointandreceivesonefinalorder–self-destruct.Thecellsortofmeltsaway,releasingnewcoronaparticlesreadytoattackmorecells.Thenumberofinfectedcellsgrowsexponentially[??ksp??n?n?(?)li].Afterabout10days,millionsofbodycellsareinfected,andbillionsofvirusesswarmedthelungs.冠状病毒通过连接感染者外膜受体注入自己的基因信息。而细胞对此毫不知情，便接受了一个非常简单的指令：复制，再组合。原始病毒的复制体越来越多，直到临界点到来，从而引发最终指令-自我破坏。细胞某种程度上会消散，释放新的冠状粒子以攻击更多的细胞。感染细胞数量以指数形式增长。大约十天后，数百万身体细胞会被感染，数十亿病毒将充斥肺部。Thevirushasnotcausedtoomuchdamageyet,butcoronaisnowgoingtoreleasearealbeastonyou,yourownimmunesystem.Theimmunesystem,whiletheretoprotectyou,canactuallybeprettydangeroustoyourselfandneedstightregulation.Andasimmunecellspourintothelungstofightthevirus,coronainfectssomeofthemandcreatesconfusion.Cellshaveneitherearsnoreyes.They
