The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on College Student’s Health & Well-being

The coronavirus disease and pandemic abruptly emerged in December of 2019 in Wuhan, China and has continued to leave long-lasting mental and physical impacts (Centers for Disease Control, 2023). The first confirmed cases in the United States emerged in Washington State by January 20, 2020, with the first death reported on February 29th, 2020 (Copeland et al., 2021). The disease was caused by SARS-CoV-2, which is a type of coronavirus that was identified in 2019 and caused a pandemic of respiratory illnesses called COVID-19 (Copeland et al., 2021). COVID-19 can spread from person to person through droplets in the air caused by an infected person (The Johns Hopkins University, 2022). While the disease can show mild-to-no symptoms in some individuals, some may experience severe cases that leave long-lasting muscle and lung damage, nervous system problems, kidney and lung failure, and death (The Johns Hopkins University, 2022).