Mass hysteria in Covid-19

I’ve been avoiding any topics surrounding the Covid-19 at work but realised today all my efforts were redundant. I was assigned to write about the cultural factors surrounding the perception of the Covid-19. As there is so much discussion about this novel Coronavirus, it has been causing a lot of misunderstandings of the Chinese culture simply due to the way the entire race is portrayed on social media and news outlets. Since the outbreak originated in Hubei province of China, it is the common perception that this was caused by the general population of the country.

Before we look at the cultural factors surrounding the Covid-19 let’s take a look at the fundamental truths regarding this deadly virus. Although the death rate of this virus is considerably lower than SARS and MERS, we still have to refer to it as deadly since it has now claimed lives. Covid-19 is a virus which first started in the city of Wuhan in the Hubei province of China. It has since then claimed the lives of over 1000 people around the world of which mainly in the origin itself. A doctor attempted to alert the public regarding the existence of the virus in June 2019 but not only was he ignored by the authorities, also at the same time they threatened prosecution if he publicizes any of his claims. This virus starts off with a cough, fever then develops to severe chest infection and pneumonia, eventually in serious cases leads to death of the infected. The current death rate is around 2.5% however this figure is slowly escalating. The cause of the Covid-19 is still under investigation but health experts suspect that the virus originated from an animal source at a large seafood market which also dealt in illegal wildlife sales in Wuhan. The fact is now the virus has been confirmed to be an airborne virus which is being passed from human to human. Although the death rate of the Covid-19 is low the rate that it is spreading has led the WHO to declare this a world health emergency and have the whole world on high alert.

Healthcare professionals are working on what they know from other Coronaviruses as to best advise the world on how to prevent the spread of this virus. So far the understanding is that the virus airborne transferable, therefore from people sneezing, coughing droplets into the air and then inhaled by others to facilitate the transfer. The best way to prevent this virus is to wash your hands regularly and avoid crowded places. The last three weeks since the major outbreak started in Wuhan which led to Chinese authorities sealing off the city and initiating a country wide quarantine, everyone has been on high alert. The already standing racism towards the Chinese communities around the world was only made worse by the essential label put on people from the Hubei province in China.

Pointing Fingers

There is a lot of focus on the carrier of the virus whereas we should all concentrate on the virus itself. With social media and the Internet spreading what we know as “fake news” it is very easy for misinformed people to target the citizens of Hubei province. Most people do not understand that Hubei province covers an area of 185,900 km² with the biggest city Wuhan having a population of 11.08 million. The reason I have to say this is because how can you just assume you are speaking about an entire race when you are referring to the fact that over 11.08 million people’s lives are in danger because of the mistake made by a few people in their community. If we just say that for instance 10 people came into contact with these protected wildlife which supposedly transferred the virus to humans, that is 0.00000075% of China’s population. I don’t know how much more I can emphasize to everyone around the world that this is such a small amount of people, so it is largely unfair for the world to generalize this virus to be the mistake of an entire race. Another way of looking at it might be that since this virus is a fast spreading one, the more people you have in a concentrated area, the easier it is to spread. The reason I mention this is because I see it as unfortunate that this virus had to happen in China, one of the most densely populated countries in the world. There is not much the country’s population can do to prevent the spread simply by the density of its living standards.

The most recent finger pointing in world news outlets and media has been in China. There is discussion regarding the covering up of a novel virus in the world and China’s late reaction to the entire saga. China has the history of SARS in their books too. As we know the Chinese government also attempted to cover up the existence of the SARS virus spreading and their late reaction led to the death of 774 people worldwide over a few months.

Over the course of only several weeks China has been the center of focus for the fast spreading of the Covid-19. The extent of the measures being taken in China by healthcare experts, government officials and members of the military has been extreme to prevent the further spreading of the deadly virus. Having said that this is all not enough as the virus continues to spread around the world. As the country itself has a corrupt government and a lack in a complete legal system, it is very hard to contain something so volatile. If someone has cash, he/she can pay off officials to get out of the now closed off city of Wuhan, on to a plane, to another country whilst risking the infection of everyone along the way. The word containment is meaningless in China or in the world for that matter. Even when most of the population tries to comply, there are always the odd few who believe they play by a set of different rules.

There is a difference in cultures

You can blame it on the lack of education in China to make people aware of the dangers in viruses and infections but in my mind this is down to the cultural differences. In China, you may have come across the lack of what the Western world would refer to as “manners”. Well, it is not that they do not have manners, but rather a different set of them. One of the most common images you see of Chinese people is their loud eating and tendency to clear out their phlegm randomly on public streets and premises. The clearing of phlegm during the Covid-19 is a crucial factor to note for the spreading of the virus. The virus is stuck on the expelled phlegm, then sticks to the bottoms of shoes of everyone who steps on it to then follow them home and into the air of their next unfortunate victim. There is no way to educate an entire population to stop this act, as well as their tendency to allow their young children to urinate around streets, or anywhere they may feel like for that matter. The most recent reports detailing the virus also have been detected in blood, faeces and urine with the possibility under circumstances, airborne transmission is thought to have occurred from aerosolized respiratory secretions and faecal material. As coronaviruses have a lipid envelope, a wide range of disinfectants have proven effective. This knowledge is based on previously gained experience in responding to coronaviruses with significant epidemic potential such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-Cov) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV). No, they are not very creative with regards to the naming of these, but rather literal to avoid confusions of any sort.

Another cultural factor of note is the general lack of personal hygiene. Especially now when it is quite cold in some cities in the country, mainly where the infection originated. People rarely shower or bathe on a daily basis in the winter, mainly due to the lack of good hot water systems but also the fact that usually three generations live in the same house. With the infection being able to transfer through pipes and waterworks the living in apartments where these amenities are often shared over several households, even home quarantine does not help with the spreading of the virus. There is no immediate solution to this fact and no city-wide infrastructure to deal with its outbreak.

Cash is still a very important currency in China. Cash is everyone’s money so to say. The fact that the virus can stay on bank notes for over 12 hours does not help and in rural areas of China it is still the most widely used form of payment. Although the country and its population have introduced peer to peer payment systems such as WeChat and Alipay, cash is still a sustainable pay of transactions for most kinds of payment.

Last but not least, the entire population’s tendency of no follow-through of any kind is also another serious worry for the spreading of this virus. Let’s take the building of the emergency makeshift hospital in Wuhan as an example. Yes, it was built in record time and sure it houses all these patients, with medical staff from around the country starting their treatment of the deadly virus, great! As soon as things seemed to have started to be operating smoothly, it also started to fall apart. Viral videos of how the makeshift hospital has developed leaks from its walls due to the bad weather in the city has left the world circling back to the incompetence of a nation who claims to be at the height of developing new technologies and expanding its wealth of knowledge.

The people that are freaking out

There are many stakeholders in this epidemic. Apart from those infected, those stuck in the area with those infected, there is the very annoying bunch of those who simply are freaking out! The people who are freaking out are those who don’t fully understand the virus and its odds. These people think that once you catch it the only outcome is death. This virus is not as deadly as SARS-CoV. Yes, it can be scary to know that pneumonia is a condition which lands people in Intensive Care with a machine to help them breathe, but we must all remain logical and rational. For those of us who have children, we must remain calm for their sake. I have realised that the people who are most easily freaked out are those who are rarely ill. Those with the strongest immune system are the ones freaking out you say? Yes. It makes no sense right? I find these people very annoying. My life has been seriously affected by these people, as they are restricting my travel plans, my desire to get on with my life, and start the 2020 with a “bang”. This mass hysteria we have been seeing a lot in the last two months in Hong Kong has been nothing but hazardous. Whilst people believe they are doing everything they can to prevent the catching of this virus, they are ignoring the fact that the rest of the world are trying to stop it from spreading. They did not read up and understand all its facts before taking the necessary measures to protect themselves. The manufacturers of surgical masks are not helping either with their endless online propaganda of the necessity of wearing one in public for the entire world. All the government bodies around the world, apart from the one of Hong Kong and China, have been informing their citizens that there is no essential need to wear a surgical mask unless you are a medical personnel treating infected patients or is in fact showing symptoms of the illness yourselves.

It is due to the fact that the rest of the world has this understanding, that people around the world who are seen wearing a surgical mask in public are being attacked. The attacker generally holds the impression that the victim is infected by the Covid-19. While the actions are not to be condoned and are volatile, there is an obvious misunderstanding here which needs to be publicly addressed. There is no sign we can all wear above our heads which differentiates us as those who are scared of catching the virus or someone who believes they have symptoms of the virus and do not wish to endanger the rest of the world. We need a universal action, to symbolize our wishes. We should all wear a mask to prevent the spreading of the symptoms we have, but not wear one to prevent the infection from spreading to us. This way, the attackers in this equation would need to hold back their hatred and in turn feel grateful that the person they so need to violate has already done the greater deed by not attempting to infect them with a deadly virus.

The words “we cause our own demise” is suitable here. Those people who attract attention to themselves for being the cause of mass hysteria are those being attacked around the world. I am not saying they deserved the violence inflicted upon them, but rather the fact that they should have been prepared for it as they themselves are causing the rest of their society distress and fear. If attacking them in broad daylight is the only way to wake them from their irrational behavior, then I believe it needs to be done.

This behaviour caused by fear has led to citizens in Hong Kong rushing to purchase their essential daily items such as toilet paper, hand sanitizers, disinfectants and rice based on the misguided knowledge that these items will run out the soonest as they are usually imported from China where all the factories and supplies are at a halt from the lack of staff going back to work.

What can we make of this

Now, down to the bottom line. What can we make of all the above information? Well, first things must be said that I don’t believe the Chinese government is doing a good enough job in restoring order in the Hubei Province. The only thing we can be certain of is that all the citizens in Wuhan are so scared of the spreading of the virus that they have all locked themselves in their homes, hotel rooms, or whatever safe location they can find. Various countries have sent chartered aircraft to the city to pick up their citizens, whilst others have refused allowing their people to fend for themselves in what is not close to a wasteland. If this were to happen in another country perhaps we would see people looting all the closed storefronts and unattended vehicles would be stolen and sold for scraps. This virus has terrified an entire province of over 58.5 million people seriously affecting the lives of over 50,000 odd citizens who have shown suspicious signs of actually being infected. It is not just one province that is affected, it is more the entire world. Major economic sectors, industries, businesses, travel and tourism industry, seriously affected. People are not leaving the little left comforts of their homes in China unable to return to work. Manufacturing sectors completely cripples with the lack of workers coming back from their hometown after the extended Chinese New Year holidays. All this because some citizens could not control themselves and went on an adventurous joyride of tasting wild animals not made to be a human food source.

After writing this entire article, I now really feel hopeless for this nation I am supposed to call my own. While I wish all those infected with the virus a good end to this horrifying experience, being a pneumonia survivor myself I strongly hope they find a remedy soon to ease the coughing victims of this deadly virus. I know I say that lightly, as with these medication, you would need a lengthy amount of time for trials and to be approved by a higher body of experienced medical professionals, to then eventually launch into mass market at a favorable price. All this is speculated to take a good couple of years. Goodness me… I am not sure the people in this world, the one who are freaking out can survive for that long.