Remember - the recoveries are higher than the deaths
We are scared. Everyone is scared. The novel coronavirus had literally gone viral around the world. Surgical masks and everything with the words ‘sanitising’ and ‘antiseptic’ on them were sold out everywhere. To be honest with you I was scared when I was in Hong Kong and I continue to worry about my family and friends’ safety back in Hong Kong.
I was on the first flight back to Sydney after the Australian government announced no Chinese nationals and foreign entities who had visited China can enter the country. The QF128 flight I was on was thrown into chaos. Online check-in was shut down and I became a standby racing to get a seat at the gate and to prove my ‘innocence’ with my Australian passport. Chinese travellers were told to stand aside at the check in counters so they are separated from other passengers. Those who managed to go through prior to the sudden announcement were tracked at the gates and their luggage were eventually offloaded. People started queuing up with their standby boarding pass hoping to secure a seat (luckily I got mine as soon as a staff showed up at the gate so I was not in the long queue). The flight was delayed for over an hour while everyone was hoping to leave as soon as possible. Everyone at the gate was wearing surgical or facial masks of some kind. It felt like a scene lifted right off a disaster movie.
On the flight everyone kept their masks on. Some members of the cabin crew also have their masks on while serving. And to be honest with you, it was one of the worst sleeps on a flight for me (I usually can) because my face and ears were constantly strangled by the mask. Every slight cough or sound got everyone on edge. I was in the premium economy cabin but can imagine how stressful it could be for people downstairs in the economy cabin.
Upon arrival, queues were formed quite quickly as multiple flights were arriving at the same time. The air conditioning in the arrival hall before the Customs was not strong enough. With additional screening and a lot more people, temper and temperature were both flaring. At this point anyone who was not following instructions prior to entering the queue were met with groans and stares.
On social media and in the media, I read stories about some of my friends of Chinese descent were being racially profiled and condemned for spreading the virus (they are totally healthy and have not been into China), the Murdoch Empire didn’t waste a second to label this as ‘The Chinese Virus’ and it is causing a ‘PANDAmic’. This got me thinking, what had happened that had brought all of us to this state?
There is no question that this whole outbreak is caused by the illegal consumption and trade of wild lives in China, specifically a wet market in Wuhan. By saying that I am ignoring conspiracy theories about the Chinese authority testing a new bioweapon virus on its subject a la Resident Evil style. I never agree to wild live trades and consumption because of my British colonial upbringing, and I detest the participation of it. I never liked how wet markets were operated in the mainland after being forced to visit them as a kid when my family visit relatives in China. So it is without a doubt that more needs to be done. While cultural tradition will still be cultural tradition (as I told many people Chinese people basically eat anything that moves – that’s survival instincts that became a cultural tradition) more needs to be done to monitor and manage this. I cannot offer any recommendation on this as I am personally biased to ban that outright with active crackdown to demolish as many businesses as possible, but this is the second time this happened within this century, certainly people should have learnt that from the 2003 SARS epidemic?
But then on the other hand, this should be the time the human race come together. I will not condemn the Australian government on closing its borders. It is the government’s responsibility to protect its people. While I am against a lot of this government’s policies, I do feel that it had fulfilled its duty, although communications of the policy should be done better across the board so most people, if not everyone is on the same page. Doing this is not being racist but being pragmatic. Evidence demonstrated the epicentre is in China so the decision is evidence based not racially based (remember, non-Chinese foreign entities who visited China were also on the list). What disappointed me was the irrational knee jerk reaction by some sectors of the society using one single brush against anyone who is or looks Chinese within our society. Our world has become an extremely intolerable place since the rise of the white-supremacist right wing leaders in the western world. The end result is bigotry and racial attacks were normalised, whether they were ‘officially endorsed’ in writing or not. Irrational fears stirred by their media, especially the Murdoch empire added fuel to this wild social fire. If continued, this will have profound negative effects to our society.
First of all, if being irrationally abused, people will stop wearing surgical or facial masks even if they were not well, especially for the Asian community that is known for this awareness. I am not talking about just coronavirus but even for common flu. This will unnecessarily generate risks across the board in the society, especially when the air condition is already that bad in many parts of Australia due to the eternal bush fires since the summer season started. This unwarranted health risk will add unnecessary pressure on the healthcare system that would spill over to impact on care quality, service provision and patient recovery.
Secondly, general racial profiling deters people willing to contribute. It is very simple – if I am not welcomed and verbally abused, why would I help if you are in trouble? A segregated society is a society that tears itself apart from inside out. Being patriotic is not determined by the colour of your skin but determined by the sense of allegiance and belonging of the people who came together and formed this society. If we focused on tearing each other apart senselessly through racial profiling and manipulated fear, what hope does this society has when a real crisis presents itself and members who could help just stand and watch?
Thirdly, compassion and support, even without physical presence is an important part of recovery. As the world is racing towards finding a vaccine and quick cure for the virus, science itself will not be enough as a lot of health practitioners can tell you what’s in the mind matters. And what in the mind is not just about self-determination but also social support. People who are sick are already scared. Whether it is because of coronavirus or other sicknesses, verbal abuse and attacks will have an impact on their recovery and I believe nobody wants to be on the receiving end while trying to recover.
There is not a lot as a member of society I can offer to combat this virus. I was one of the persons who was on edge when I was in Hong Kong. When you live in a society in full scare panic already, love and compassion is what keeps everyone sane. A simple word of support, even over the Internet will help to combat this new global pandemic a lot. Yes, it is not good that this was originated from China, but calling it the ‘Chinese virus’ and condemning this as the ‘PANDAmic’ will not help to improve the situation for anyone. Love in the time of coronavirus could be a good step forward to combat this crisis from a social and human point of view.
