The coronavirus outbreak that surfaced in the Wuhan region of China mainland hit the world in December 2019 with a surprise smack and it took several weeks for health authorities to admit that we were dealing with a new infectious agent christened Covid-19 by the World Health Organization. One leading hypothesis states that the virus emerged at a popular seafood market in Wuhan. This is not a surprise for many experts because it’s happened before like with the virus that caused the SARS epidemic of 2003.
This virus has resulted in worldwide panic of immense proportions but everything is taking a social downward spiral around the four corners of the world. Asians are being ignorantly blamed for the outbreak. The covid-19 has sadly sparked waves of racism, xenophobia, and discrimination against people of Asian descent in many regions of the world such as in North America and in Europe. This is a wrong approach to take if we must put this pandemic in check.
A CNN report documents several stories of physical attacks and verbal abuse in the wake of the epidemic. One such attack happened to a woman in New York who was assaulted on February 2. She was hit on her head by her assailant who had blurted out some insulting words just before attacking her. This is one out of many cases being reported around the world under the hashtag #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus by various Asians experiencing discrimination.
Fear, ignorance, unfounded panic and tuning off from expert opinion in favor of fiction and false claims are to blame for this social eyesore that is now riding on the flames of this disease outbreak. This behavior does nothing to protect people from being infected and only increases social tension which makes it difficult to pass across key prevention information. Moreover, there is no evidence to suggest that any human groups (races) are immune from contracting it. Viruses are capable of crossing the species barrier and although it is rare for a deadly one to make this ride all the length to humans, we can see from diseases like Ebola, rabies, Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and HIV which originate from apes, bats, camels, and gorillas respectively that this is possible. As humans, we all interact with other species quite often at different levels of intensity. This is one reason no one should blame any nationality or human groups for causing this coronavirus pandemic.
I also believe that even though we are flooded with information by the media on every platform, the perceived risk of infection has been driven higher than happens in reality and this is lightly responsible for the irrational behavior by some who want to quickly and conveniently look for an object to blame. In epidemics, we want to be easily able to identify individuals that can make us sick so that we can set up barriers from them but this is not the case with viruses. As has been repeated by many well-meaning humans recently, “viruses know no borders.”
I am not downplaying this epidemic’s importance but I wish most people took half of the precautions they are taking now such as washing hands and sneezing into elbows not just during this phase, but as a matter of habit. What many don’t realize is that it is also good for controlling the flu and common cold for example. France has already reported a decline in flu-related deaths since the coronavirus outbreak and some experts think it is linked to better hygiene motivated by the coronavirus epidemic.
People around the world must realize that the human species has always had to deal with epidemics or pandemics at different points in our collective history. These have included the 1918 Spanish Flu, 14th century Black Death plague caused by Yersinia pestis. The Cholera pandemic in the 19th century which erupted in India, spreading from the Ganges River Delta through Asia, Europe, North America and Africa leading to the loss of over a million lives. Perhaps you are more familiar with the HIV/AIDS pandemic which has killed over 36 million people from 1981 till date. Given the reputation of infectious diseases spread in pandemic proportions, the fear of Covid-19 is not unfounded. But we must learn from history if we are to successfully manage or eliminate it.
This pandemic is reminiscent of how the public reacted poorly to the Black Death in the 14th century. Because the mortality rate in Jewish communities appeared to be a lot lower than among their Christian counterparts, many began to propose that the Jews were intentionally spreading the plague by poisoning water bodies. This culminated in a Jewish people across Europe being tortured and killed. The 2003 SARS outbreak also sparked lashes of racism against Asians across the world. This was due partly to sensationalist media reporting. Today we face the same challenge. Irrational fear only spreads panic and promotes behaviors that are counterproductive in helping to curb this outbreak.
In the bid to keep themselves safe from infection, nations and peoples are taking several “precautionary” measures. While the government in China instituted city lockdowns in areas affected by the epidemic. In Europe, Italy took the lead by banning public gatherings, shutting down café’s, restaurants and night clubs. France and Spain have taken similar measures as at March 17th. In Switzerland, the government has instituted a ban on gatherings of more than 1000 individuals under the epidemic’s act in order to slow its spread and individuals are encouraged to keep a 2-meter distance. Borders have been closed in the EU’s Schengen area as well as several nations independently closing their borders with their European neighbors. Governments around the world have encouraged organizations to allow their employees to work remotely.
Going forward, I encourage you to listen more to the health authorities of your government, the WHO and its partners so that you can take action by practicing basic hygiene and never let another epidemic make you treat someone negatively based on unfounded claims and hearsay. Share only evidence-based scientific information. Let reason and science prevail once again in this pandemic. The human spirit can never be broken. Stay happy, don’t panic, keep on loving and Stay healthy,.
Sources:
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/20/us/coronavirus-racist-attacks-against-asian-americans/index.html
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