Coronavirus: Last or the latest?

Lin Wenliang, the Chinese doctor who issued the first warning about the coronavirus, has just died from the same disease. There is a report that there were about eight whistleblowers who tried to sound an early alarm about the new virus and were denounced by authorities for rumor mongering. 

This news has convinced observers that the real extent  of the virus infections  has not been fully revealed by the Chinese government. While suppressing media reports may have some validity, the Economist has a more logical and plausible explanation: 

“The greatest uncertainty is how many cases have gone unrecorded. Primary health care is rudimentary in China and some of the ill either avoided or were turned away from busy hospitals. Many more have such mild symptoms that they do not realise they  have the disease. Modelling by academics in Hongkong suggests that as of January 25th tens of thousands have already been infected and that the epidemic will peak in a few months’ time. If so the virus is more widespread than thought, and hence will be harder to contain within China. “ 

Wuhan mayor Zhou Xianwang has admitted that officials did not “...make timely disclosures of the outbreak. The city is reported to have even allowed a banquet for 40,000 people to go ahead three weeks – January 18- after whistleblowers have publicly warned that there was a new virus in the city.  Mayor Zhou also admitted that 5 million people, in a city with a 12 million population, left Wuhan before the authorities quarantined the whole metropolis and surrounding cities..

A regrettable phenomenon  that has gone across the world is that this corona virus spread has caused the rise of discrimination against the Chinese people. Some people call this racism; but, I do not agree. Koreans and Japanese belong to the same race as the Chinese. However, in those countries there has been widespread discrimination. In South Korea more than half a million people have petitioned the president to stop any Chinese from entering  their country. Japanese media have reported “No Chinese” signs being put up by food businesses. The stores’ staff have claimed this is to protect against infection. 

The Financial Times has reported cases of discrimination in many parts of Europe. In Hungary, Vietnamese shop owners had to put up signs that they are not Chinese. In Italy there are reported cases of Chinese tourists being verbally abused and spat at in Venice. In the UK, parents of children of Chinese heritage have told of bullying including name calling such as “Chinese virus”. 

These cases of discrimination may partly be attributed to latent racial discrimination. There are countries, like South Korea and Vietnam, where there has been a long history of distrust and conflict with their Chinese neighbours. Political tensions with China could also be a cause. In recent polls in the Philippines, China continues to have negative trust ratings while a former enemy – Japan now has positive trust ratings. The United States is also  consistently the most trusted foreign country by Filipinos.

There is no question, however, that fear is another reason for this reaction.  All the stories about China with cities and provinces being locked down, all travel banned and people told to stay home has added to the sense of semi-panic.

A member of a London-based epidemic response group explained: “Diseases are a great tool to magnify social trends and tensions. A catalyctic force like an outbreak brings forth all this discourse. We see this fear and this panic generates an enormous need to pinpoint scapegoats.”

National crises are always accompanied by a search for scapegoats. Here, there are already several potential scapegoats including the Health Department and even the World Health Organization ( WHO). In China, the nation’s leaders insist that their type of government is best suited to addressing this disease. During a recent visit and meeting with WHO)  head, Tedros Adhanon Ghebreyesus was assured by Wang Yi, the Foreign Minister, that China would be more resolute than during the SARS epidemic. Wang said this resoluteness is thanks to “...the strong leadership of the party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jingping as the core and the strong advantages of the socialist system as well as its experience of SARS.” 

If the virus outbreak ends within a couple of months the self-discipline of the Chinese people and the resolve of its leaders will earn global praise. If the crisis does not end  shortly or if the number of deaths is perceived to be too high, scapegoats will be found and subordinates punished. 

Will this virus or similar outbreaks from other viruses happen again? After SARS, it was commonly believed that China had learned its lesson. The Economist has a logical review of how corona virus started:

“The repeated mingling of people and animals in China means that viral mutations that infect humans are likely to arise there; and mass migrations to cities means that they are likely to spread between people. This virus probably originated in bats and passed through mammals such as palm civets or ferret badgers, ending up in Wuhan wet market where wild animals were on sale.” Unless the Chinese people are able to change their lifestyle to a certain extent, SARS, MERS and the Corona virus may be the latest; but they will not be the last. 

Creative writing classes

for kids and teens

Young Writers’ Hangout on February 22 on the Hero’s Journey with Neni Sta. Romana Cruz  (1:30 pm-3 pm; stand-alone sessions) at Fully Booked BGC. For details and registration, email [email protected].

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