Apocalypse movie footage seems to be coming true. Store shelves around the world are empty, medical masks have been sold out two months ago, people have stopped going out and shaking hands when they meet, seeing in everyone a dangerous enemy – a carrier of the coronavirus. Why is the world, which has repeatedly faced various misfortunes, suddenly scared in earnest?
Bird flu, swine flu, Ebola… It seems to be not the first virus in our history. How did a nice microscopic ball with prominences (hence the name of the virus – from the word “crown”, which frames the disk during a solar eclipse), which is part of a family of 40 of its fellows, turn the entire planet upside down?
The tale of Korney Chukovsky about the Cockroach seemed to come to life, and we turn off common sense and succumb to mass panic. Even biologists and virologists argue about the danger of the virus, but public opinion delivers its verdict: save yourself, who can!
In such a situation, deep defense mechanisms are triggered: freeze (we stop leading an active and habitual lifestyle), run (we are carried away in all directions, away from the “source” of infection in order to hide in a secluded corner of our own apartment) and beat (we are looking for the guilty, we attack the enemy – we send who sneezed home or quarantined in a hospital, we demand that colleagues and even strangers wear masks and wash their hands).
But it is precisely in such critical circumstances that inconsistency instantly manifests itself, which just calls into question the adequacy of the reaction of society and the measures taken. If everything is so dangerous, then why are there so many questions about the measures taken? Many of us notice double standards.
Didn’t listen – it’s your own fault
“I flew in from Italy before the border was closed,” says Tatyana. “I feel like I’m in the Middle Ages. They treat everyone who comes from abroad as if they were lepers, but at the same time, at other times, people can easily go to work with SARS – this is the norm of our life.
Those who have arrived from abroad are offered to be sent to quarantine, but at the same time, flight attendants are not sent to quarantine, no one really checks them, but they are the most and most often in contact with passengers. My colleagues, when they found out that I was in Italy, agreed to go to the office only on the condition that I would work from home. It’s awfully unpleasant to feel like an outcast.”
On the one hand, general self-isolation, connivance – on the other. And behind all the measures (“not to let go”, to close, to limit) lies not at all an attempt to pacify the attack, but shifting responsibility from the authorities to the citizens, some public people believe. And if the epidemic grows, then they are to blame, and the authorities have nothing to do with it, because it is irresponsible citizens who did not obey the ban.
All visitors are indiscriminately declared outlaws and sent to quarantine without any reliable tests and analyzes – thousands of people arriving by plane from Europe, the well-known journalist Mikhail Zygar is sure. He wrote about this on his Facebook page: “It’s terribly interesting when the zombie apocalypse comes, which laws of man are still in force and which are no longer. Are there still human rights? International law?..
We forget that the world is so heterogeneous that it is impossible in principle to keep the virus 100%
Epidemics (like other global cataclysms) are an excellent test for the legal system of all countries. It turns out that all the old rights exist only when we live in a sterile world. Any mysterious bacterium, virus, other mystical evil spirits immediately cancels all previous laws on a psychological level.
Everyone is afraid of everything: someone is afraid of the virus, someone is the “black funnel” that takes away those who have arrived from Italy. Animal horror. It never occurs to anyone to remember common sense, rights, lawyers. Panic and fear of the unknown are very much underestimated from a legal point of view.
We forget that the world is so heterogeneous (climatically, legally, socially and economically) that it is impossible in principle to keep the virus at 100%. The healthcare system and other institutions of power are organized differently: somewhere at a high civilized level, somewhere at the level of an African settlement. as well as diagnostic capabilities.
“I would like to briefly explain why there are so many sick and infected people in Italy all of a sudden,” says Natalya, who has been living in Termoli, Italy for two years. — Italy is the only country where anyone (I repeat, anyone!) can take the test for free! For comparison: in Germany the cost of this analysis is 250 €, in the USA – 1000 $.
The virus does not choose a country! It’s just that medicine is at the highest level, the honesty and organization of the government in taking measures, the optimism and life position of the Italians surprised me very much. A country where there are always wet disinfectant wipes in stores, a bidet in every toilet, and fruits in the store and in the market are always put in gloves … Not a single day of interruption with masks! Everything, everything is in pharmacies.
A pandemic or hysteria?
In the subway, on the street, in supermarkets – everywhere people talk about only one thing: “Corona, Corona, Corona.” More and more cases of the disease are being recorded and confirmed. As of March 9, 2020, the statistics are as follows: the number of infections is 110 (+034 new cases per day), the number of deaths is 4 (+008 per day), the number of recoveries is 3 (+656 per day). The total number of countries where coronavirus has been recorded has reached 64.
The numbers are big, but the flu takes more lives, and every year. The website of Rospotrebnadzor of the Russian Federation confirms: “Every year, during seasonal epidemics, from 5 to 10% of the entire population of the planet, which is about 1 billion people, get sick with influenza. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), influenza kills up to 650 people every year.
Statistics are just numbers. Unfortunately, behind them are real people who are dying, and this is a great tragedy for their families (and the number of dead is in the thousands on a global scale). We can sympathize with them. And try to take care of yourself and your families: show responsibility not only for your own life, but also the lives of those around you – really sit at home, use some basic disinfection means to stop the transmission of the virus.
The same WHO in a press release writes that coronavirus is not just a pandemic, but also a mass infodemic. In other words: we are drowning in an abundance, an overabundance of information – some sources are reliable, some are not. Determining which one to trust is extremely difficult.
Interactive map of the spread of coronavirus. The download may take several minutes.
And we ask ourselves: is the cancellation of the trip such a reasonable precaution, or is it a tribute to the general hysteria caused by the infodemic? Are the organizers of major events playing it safe by postponing their holidays and conferences? And can we now empty supermarkets with a clear conscience, stocking up, as in the worst times, salt, pasta and matches?
In some countries, people do not leave their homes voluntarily, and some are forcibly placed under “house arrest”, like our heroine Tatyana. But did everyone manage to stock up on the necessary? Poor students can still somehow improvise in the kitchen with pasta and canned food. But there are people who cannot easily replace the usual diet. Or they have to look for the right product among the empty shelves.
For example, elderly people who suddenly cannot find toilet paper in the supermarket around the corner and sometimes have to walk to the next one. Or people with immune diseases who – even without the “corona” – rely on disinfectants, but they are simply not available due to the hype.
And if soap and warm water are enough for us to wash off the virus, then hysteria does not go away even with a disinfectant gel. Why is there such a stir with this virus? Perhaps, not only is there too much information, but we are also not inclined to trust it, based on previous experience, when even official statements by the authorities had to be “divided by eight”?
My reaction is my choice
“In any person, albeit in a small amount, there is a paranoid component: the death rate (not in objective numbers compared to other diseases), the scale of the spread, despite its speed, does not seem to correspond to the ongoing efforts to neutralize the virus,” explains the psychodramatist. , trainer-assistant of MIGIP Oksana Rybakova. – You might think that they are not telling us something, that, maybe, in fact, everything is much worse.
And then you need to buy food, fight in pharmacies for masks, cancel business trips, measure the temperature at airports, send photos of arrivals to the face recognition system, and declare quarantine.” And, as with any theory, it certainly has some truth and some fiction. The truth is somewhere in the middle. As we all know from history textbooks, someone is always interested in the appearance of any information, but there are also ardent opponents of its dissemination.
In the atmosphere of constant information wars, confrontation between overt and covert, the “third information war” that we have been afraid of in recent years, just the rare unanimity of world leaders, support for common measures of struggle is so unusual and surprising that even this strengthens suspicion: since political opponents have united, which means it’s really bad.
“If there is a lot of anxiety, fear and mistrust, if it is not clear what to do, it is easiest to choose someone against whom you can unite. And now this is happening both with the virus as a whole and with individuals from the areas of its distribution,” the psychologist explains. “This, of course, does not make it any easier, but at least it is clear that the situation will change when the epidemic subsides.”
The measures taken this time to control the spread of the coronavirus are truly unprecedented. “At least, in my memory there was nothing similar,” comments Oksana Rybakova. – I would recommend that those who find themselves “prisoners” within the four walls of a house or hospital try to perceive the situation objectively.
You can’t control what happens due to the spread of the coronavirus
Try to imagine yourself in the place of colleagues: you are informed that an employee who has returned from China is leaving for work. If the coronavirus is confirmed, you will be sent to the hospital, plus you will have to isolate relatives living with you. Make allowance for the general state of nervousness and panic: there is too much information, it comes constantly and from everywhere, partly true, partly speculative and unverified. The virus is new, there is no vaccine for it yet.”
Many companies, following the recommendations of Rospotrebnadzor and Rostourism, have adopted internal orders to restrict travel abroad, and even if someone has been there, it is imperative to notify management and spend 14 days in home quarantine.
“If you find yourself in quarantine, take advantage of this pause for yourself – books, films, online courses, sleep, household chores that have long been postponed. This is not the first and not the last epidemic, it will also end,” the psychologist recommends.
But what if we ourselves succumbed to fear and panic? For example, Olga, a doctor with 25 years of experience, admits that she is ashamed, but she is afraid. It is absolutely normal to be afraid of the unknown, and the coronavirus is still new and unexplored even for the medical community, Oksana Rybakova is convinced.
“Try to divide your fears into rational (justified and designed to protect you) and irrational (frightening you) – such as, for example, the expectation of the end of the world, instant death, the fear of leaving the house. It is rational to exercise great caution and attention to your health condition (but not panic) if you have been in one of the countries with a recorded outbreak of coronavirus: in China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Great Britain, Norway and United States – or have been in contact with someone who recently returned from these countries.
The responsibility for all of humanity is not on your shoulders, and you absolutely cannot control what happens in connection with the spread of the coronavirus. This is fine. Coping with fear and panic in the face of global hysteria is difficult. Try to reduce the flow of incoming information, look at the numbers and statistics. If you feel more comfortable, stock up on basic groceries, buy hand sanitizers, and walk where possible. And try to treat everything with humor.