Tensions are high under the recent outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
Dangers of Sensationalizing the Coronavirus
With the recent viral epidemic, nations around the world are scrambling to prevent local outbreaks from infecting their population. News about the 2019-nCov virus, or Coronavirus, are flooding headlines around the world. Countries are barring entry and revoking travel visas from Chinese travelers; even going as far as to postpone or reject student exchanges. Within China, schools, railways, and business are all shut down. While the Chinese government has mostly kept quiet about the situation, some Chinese citizens have taken to social media to describe the effects of the city-wide lockdown.
While this epidemic has been raging across Asia, many Asians outside of the affected regions have also felt another impact of the viral epidemic. Some have reported discrimination in public spaces and restaurants. Within the last week, several news organizations were accused of fearmongering and using xenophobic language to describe the infection. One French article about the virus was criticized for using the titled “Alerte jaune”, or “Yellow Alert”, which evoked racist language used against Asian migrants during the 1900s such as “Yellow Peril”. With so much misinformation and sensationalization in the news, some people are worried that the framing of the virus has shifted away from its original intention to inform the public to promoting hysteria. However, the question remains: How deadly is the coronavirus? Who is at risk? How has the media shifted the perception of the infection?
How deadly is the Coronavirus?
According to the latest news source about the Wuhan Coronavirus, more than 31,300 people have been infected with 2019-nCoV and 637 people have died. While the infection has been mostly contained within Mainland China, there has also been one reported death in the Philippines. The number of infections has skyrocketed within the past month, where previously only 50 patients were discovered to have the virus.
There’s still so much we don’t know about 2019-nCoV, including how exactly it’s transmitted, where it’s spreading, and how deadly it is. A recent study from the American Society of Microbiology suggests that the Wuhan coronavirus transmitters may be reminiscent of SARS-nCoV, a pandemic that also appeared in China in 2002; however, the Center For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has yet to make any formal conclusions about the infection. So far, the fatality rate for the new coronavirus is around 2 to 3 percent, though that could continue to change as the outbreak progresses. In comparison, the fatality rate for SARS was about 14 to 15 percent. Most deaths in this outbreak have been in older people who have underlying health issues such as heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes.
Given the uncertainties about the 2019-nCoV, it is difficult to determine exactly how deadly the respiratory virus is. For now, many health professionals believe that the outbreak could get a lot worse. Despite the Chinese government pledging to build two new hospitalswithin ten days, the influx of patients have taxed the Chinese health system. Many predict that the virus will eventually spread to poorer countries that are less equipped to handle the infection, causing it to balloon into a pandemic, a disease that has spread over one continent or the world. Alternatively, it could also get much better, as nearly 1,500 people are already on-way to recovery.
How does the virus measure up to other viral epidemics and the flu?
Although health experts have yet to make official determinations about 2019-nCoV, most reports have noticed that the symptoms for the virus range from mild, like those in a cold, to severe. While most fatalities are from vulnerable populations like the sick and/or elderly, the World Health Organization (WHO) believes that nearly 20 percent of the cases have been severe. As officials continue to observe the course of the infection and its initial symptoms, they will eventually determine whether or not the illness has devastating effects.
Likewise, similar diseases in the past like H1N1 or “swine flu” turned out to be much less deadly than feared. On the other hand, Ebola, mutated to behave in unpredictable ways that caught experts off guard during the 2014-2016 epidemic in West Africa. Many reports have alleged that the symptoms of 2019-nCoV share many similarities with the flu, which kills more people each year. However, with so little information, it remains imperative to stay vigilant as novel symptoms or mutations may appear in the coming months.
The chart below from Business Insider compares the severity of other major zoonotic, animal to human, viruses from the past decade with the 2019-nCoV. So far, although the status of the Coronavirus is constantly evolving, its fatality rate remains behind other viral infections. Nevertheless, since the virus spread during the heavy traffic of the New Year, more countries are finding cases of the Coronavirus within their borders.
What is China’s approach to dealing with the epidemic?
Transportation, businesses, schools, and even apartment complexes are on lockdown as of January 22, 2020 in the city of Wuhan. The government has also prolonged the Lunar New Year break for the entire country in order to limit travel. Chinese authorities have used extreme measures to try and haul the spread of the Coronavirus, ordering house-to-house searches for the sick. The authorities have begun to direct patients in Wuhan to makeshift hospitals, including a sports stadium, an exhibition center, and a building complex to house thousands of people. The New York Times noted that the city of 11 million residents is in “wartime conditions” and the tactics used by the government demonstrate an emerging humanitarian crisis.
Along with Wuhan, fifteen other cities are on lockdown and well. Households in these areas are allotted turns to buy groceries and necessities every three days. Neighborhood watches are formed to report individuals who display symptoms the virus. Those who attempt to leave their quarantine can even face jail time if they are caught by authorities.
Chinese nationals have also reflected their situation on their social media platform, WeChat, on the effects of the lockdown in Wuhan and the surrounding Hubei province. In one report, a family that relocated from Wuhan to a neighboring city during the quarantine was barricaded inside their home; locals have nailed the doors shut to prevent the family from exiting. Fear of the outbreak and the draconian methods used by the government have created a climate of mass hysteria both within and outside of the country.
Right now, the quarantine has led to a shortage of masks and medical supplies. Many experts state that the lack of medical care and the growing sense of abandonment in Wuhan has made people believe that the city is being “sacrificed for the greater good of China”. Still, even with these extreme methods, some health experts are wary that it is still not enough to prevent the further spread of the virus outside of Mainland China
How are other countries responding?
Airlines have halted flights to and from China. Schools around the world are uninviting Chinese exchange students. Some restaurants across Asia have put up signs that bar Chinese people from entering. Most notably, a hastag in France started trending; #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus, or “I am not a virus”. While some governments, businesses, and institutions around the world are trying to find the right response to maintain public health, there are also many examples of xenophobic and discriminatory incidents spreading along with the virus.
Health concerns aside, reactions from multiple countries have caused upset in the Asian community. In Denmark, a cartoon of the Chinese flag with its stars replaced by viruses caused a response from the Chinese government. A group of Singaporean tourists of Chinese descent were barred from hiking in Sri Lanka. In Canada, parents petitioned schools to force Chinese students to stay home. Recently, the UN twitter urged people to stop discriminating against people of Asian descent. Despite these incidents, many people blame Chinese nationals for creating and spreading the coronavirus.
During bouts of public unrest, the use social media exacerbate the response to the outbreak. Much like during the spread of Ebola or H1NI, many are turning to misinformation, racial stereotyping, and fearmongering to quell their anxieties about the public emergency.
Conclusion
With everything taken into consideration, viral infections should be taken seriously for the safety and health of millions of people. However, while considering the best approach to avoiding a potential health crisis, government officials and news media should be careful to avoid using xenophobic and potentially harmful discourse while warning their citizens.
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