The irony is that now many people look to China in wonder, impressed by the way it overcame the epidemic. American newspapers such as USA Today completely changed their tone, now publishing stories such as “what can we learn from China?”
by Zulkifli Nazim
We are at a pivotal moment in history.
Societies throughout history have faced many epidemics that have shaken the illusion of human control over the planet. Epidemics affect individuals who have experienced the crisis directly, changing large aspects of their personalities. The impact of epidemics extends across generations. The cross-generational impact confirms epidemics not only affect us physically, but they have a huge impact on our personalities psychologically. Since any society is a gathering of a number of individuals, any change incurred on a person leads to the change in the community as a whole since epidemics are similar to wars, leading to transformations of people’s daily habits and wiping out others.
Ordinary diseases, regardless of their seriousness or fatality to patients, may be worse than an epidemic. However, epidemics scare individuals more. This is because we are affected by the feeling of uncertainty associated with the possibility of developing an organic disease to feeling that what awaits us is unknown and mysterious. Fear of the indefinite affects the entire community, and this increases with rising numbers of victims. The scenario of panic aggravates whenever no vaccine is suitable to eradicate an epidemic.
The unknown in the case of epidemics becomes gloomier and even murkier as the epidemic approaches the individual’s circle. In the case of organic diseases, a person feels fear for himself only, but in the case of epidemics, the person does not know whether he is the next victim of the epidemic, or any member of his close circle, such as children and family members.
At the time of an epidemic, human behaviour consists of two extremes: rationality and irrationality. In times of tranquility and serenity, man can hide his irrationality and restrain it as much as possible, as this helps him with his daily routine. Yet, in the case of epidemics the routine fades, logic and lucidity sits in the back seat and irrationality holds the steering wheel. By then, the individual wears glasses of fear and anxiety, and proceeds to do what he previously denied. Getting rid of modern lifestyle and resorting to traditional methods in which he thinks only of himself, and of securing his basic needs for the longest possible period, even at the expense of others.
Besides, communities always get into a state of fear of the unknown with every pandemic, regardless of technological development. For example, the scientific and technological potentials of mankind today cannot be compared to what was available to human beings at the time of the outbreak of the plague or cholera. In the case of COVID-19, people are terrified by the novelty of the epidemic and the lack of information about it.
The corona pandemic may be the first global epidemic that has caused this big death toll, but it is not the first epidemiological pandemic.
During this wild time, we’re all in need of some good news. But what we’re in need of more than good news, is real good news. The first claim is that China was able to close down its last emergency temporary coronavirus hospital as the number of new cases has diminished. This claim is legit. China has in fact closed down all of their temporary hospitals, including the ones in Wuhan.
It appears that China has managed to take control of the epidemic, or at least to dramatically reduce infection rates. The attitude towards the spread of the virus in China, which as it was expressed only a month ago in endless belligerent and arrogant statements by Western politicians and public officials. These statements ranged from condescension to pleasure at someone else’s misfortune were inundated with expressions of unconcealed hostility towards China, and each misstep was touted as proof of its government’s incompetence. All this was accompanied by a wish to see the downfall of the Asian superpower.
The irony is that now many people look to China in wonder, impressed by the way it overcame the epidemic. American newspapers such as USA Today completely changed their tone, now publishing stories such as “what can we learn from China?”
All 42 official Apple retail stores opened on Friday, 27th April, although some stores had special business hours. It shut the stores in mid-February, as China put several cities on effective lockdown in a bid to contain the virus.” Going back to the original keyword search, multiple articles from “the Business Insider”, “The Verge” and “CNBC” all confirm this.
The Wall Street Journal also admitted that the tough measures employed by China in response to the virus cast doubt over conventional wisdom regarding the way infectious diseases should be dealt with.
In retrospect, the steps taken by China were indeed draconian, but steps taken now around the world, especially in Israel, are also quite brutal. Like for example : monitoring of cellphones and every form of communication, where these methods will require an invasion of citizens’ privacy. For many, this seems a necessary step given the gravity of the crisis. But when this is added to a policy encouraging reporting of quarantine violators and to serious restrictions on leaving homes, there is concern that we are sliding towards an unbridled technological monitoring of citizens, which could set a precedent for future crises.
The Post-Corona World
The current situation in China reminds us of what life will look like after the epidemic is defeated, or after its peak is behind us.
The Post-Corona world will be very different from what we have previously known. After the Corona crisis, the world will change, governments will suffer, strong economies will falter and international alliances may disintegrate while other coalitions will emerge. Perhaps the phrase “the world beyond corona” is now frequently used.
Many people also suffer doubts about their surroundings; people doubt their abilities to survive due to the mass media coverage and warnings that this epidemic is uncontrollable, especially as this disease has no medical treatment so far and the soonest vaccine would be available within 6 months to a year as western experts believe. Thus, the state of suspicion and fear of the unknown is similar to going to war without seeing an enemy. Such war is not governed by logic or reason. The only way to finish this ordeal is to find a medication and people stick to precautionary and preventive measures.
Moreover, many are trying to find solace, comfort and consolation in religion, in search of treatment or tranquility. However, this does not necessarily mean that the curve of religiosity in society rises at the time of the outbreak of epidemics, but people resort to faith and religiousness to help them resolve their issues and get away from the reality. Somehow people are convinced that they need religion, and that they are in urgent need of the tranquility that religion gives them, as people do not know what tomorrow holds for them. So they must draw a line somewhere between beliefs and reality. Disruption is happening; but that doesn’t have to mean it’s bad. It is at times like these, we start to see a bit of truth.
To sum up, many people may return to religion to alleviate the tragedy caused by the epidemic, believing that God sent the affliction as punishment, and that when they turn to Him, He will wipe out the plight. This is similar to the AIDS cases which spread around the world in the early 1990s, when major transformations in the beliefs of people had taken place, with many of them resorting to religion in a bid to treat what is impossible to be treated by modern technologies and medicine. This direct link between obedience to God and the epidemic confuses people when the epidemic is prolonged, lasting longer than expected, forcing many to enter into an internal struggle.
We need to go back in time and refer to our thousands of years of history, literature, virtues and knowledge to decide what we want the next version of our society to look like.
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