Epidemic as a Mirror on Society
In a recent blog , I said that the coronavirus wasn’t an epidemic yet, regardless of the panic and fear. Sadly, now it’s official, writes Ed Yong: the WHO declared it a “public-health emergency of international concern” (PHEIC) — a designation that puts it in the same bucket as the infamous epidemics of H1N1 swine flu, polio, Ebola, Zika, and Ebola again. In his article, Yong focusses on the following aspect: “Each epidemic is also different, and each is a mirror that reflects the society it affects.” Let’s explore that line in detail. Coronavirus seems to be spreading at a blistering pace compared even to SARS, which for all the hue and cry, infected 8,100 people in 8 months . But that’s not an apples to apples comparison, say many. Back then in 2002-03, the world didn’t know how fast and how wide a new virus could spread. Today, we have panic, which leads to more people checking in for anything resembling the symptoms. Plus, the number of people flying across the world ha...