The Other Deadly Virus: Racism
- Sinag Publications
- Apr 30, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 28, 2020
by: Crista Nicole Buat
Poised to be one of the most notorious pandemics in a while, the novel corona virus has been all over the media for the first few months of 2020. This prompted people from all across the globe to express their concerns through social media, with everyone giving their own take on how the issue should be handled. There are those who chose to spread useful information (hand washing tips, the effectiveness of different face masks, essential hygienic practices, etc.), and then there’s the vast majority who used their platform for fear mongering and misplaced anger towards Chinese people.
It’s no secret that the novel corona virus originated from somewhere in Wuhan, China. In fact, the media doesn’t let us forget that the virus is from China, going as far as to call it the “China virus” or “Wuhan virus” when similar pandemics in the past like the H1N1, originating from North America, weren’t given the same treatment.
Researchers speculate that the virus, which originally infected animals, was transmitted to humans from bats. Now unlike what you’ve been reading from those sketchy Facebook articles and Twitter trolls, there isn’t any real evidence that suggests that the virus was transmitted from eating bats. In fact, there’s a possibility that the virus isn’t even from bats.
So how exactly did the virus hop from animals to humans?
The virus can be shed from the urine or stool of an infected animal. From there, it can be aerosolized (converted into particles small and light enough to be carried on the air) and inhaled by nearby humans. Once a person or a group of people get infected, they are capable of transmitting the virus to other people by coughing and sneezing.
This is the more likely scenario as to what went on before it became a viral infection. In fact, it’s what most experts assume to have happened. Unfortunately, it is not the story the general public wants to believe.
Multiple videos of “Chinese” people enjoying different bat delicacies from “Wuhan” have been circulating online. None of the videos had any documented link to the outbreak, and were filmed outside China, in Palau and Indonesia. Some of which even date back all the way to 2016.
In most parts of the world, especially in Western countries, Chinese and Asians in general continue to be marginalized and belittled. When stories like this spread, they only add fuel to the fire that is racism and xenophobia against Asians. Since the news of the COVID-19 came out, there have been multiple incidents of Asians who have never even been anywhere near Wuhan being racially discriminated and isolated at school, work, and other public places.
All the right information can be accessed with the tap of a finger. And it is truly disappointing to see how people choose to settle and simply rely on stereotypes instead of seeking ways to properly address a global health emergency. Bringing in xenophobic jokes and remarks will not eradicate the COVID-19 but it will escalate the already widespread pandemic that has been insuppressible for hundreds of years: racism.
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