Last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus, recently named COVID-19, a public health emergency of international concern. In the U.S., the Secretary for Health and Human Services declared it a public health emergency for the country.
Since it was first detected in Wuhan City, Hubei, China, COVID-19 has been found in about 40 countries. Over 80,000 cases have been identified globally, including nearly 3,000 deaths, a death toll higher than that of the 2003 SARS epidemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) just announced the US can expect to see new cases within its borders.
Inevitably, there is much fear about COVID-19. This has been reflected in the global economy, as markets react to the disease. Last Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined over 1,000 points, then slipped more than 800 points the next day. The London-based bank HSBC Holding PLC has lowered expectations for growth in its Asia markets, and Apple has announced the virus will stop the company from reaching its first quarter revenue targets.
Anxieties about COVID-19 have led to many responses, from the precautionary—such as the widespread purchasing of respiratory masks—to the cruelly counterproductive; namely, a willingness to scapegoat people of Chinese descent.
Such scapegoating is, sadly, an old story. When unexpected, large-scale health challenges strike, especially infectious health challenges, the climate of fear and uncertainty can lead to a belief that some people are especially at fault for creating or spreading the disease. This stigmatization can produce new outbreaks—outbreaks of racism, xenophobia, hate.
Often, these outbreaks target groups which are already marginalized and treated as “the other.” When the Black Death struck Europe in the 14th century, for example, ignorance of the disease’s true cause led to increased persecution of Jews, beggars, and foreigners.
The past also teaches that when health challenges like COVID-19 occur, it is not uncommon for pseudoscience and misinformation about disease to spread, as anxiety clouds our judgment about the soundness of the information we consume.
Earlier eras brought quack cures like the belief that drinking vinegar could ward off the Black Death, or the mistaken conviction that cholera was caused by miasma, or “bad air.” Misinformation is hardly less prevalent in the era of “fake news” and “alternative facts,” where the basic standards of truth itself have become, to some, open to debate.
We now see misinformation about COVID-19 infection rates, and conspiracy theories about its cause. In this context, it is important that we take a measured approach to COVID-19, hewing closely to what we know about the disease, rejecting unfounded speculation, and not letting fear eclipse our common sense.
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