Isolation Not Ostracization

Why has contacting COVID-19 become such a stigma in society? Why are people embarrassed to share that they are suffering from this virus? Are we as individuals doing something that makes them feel different about themselves?

People often do not like to talk about disease-related stigma as it exposes their collective prejudices. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), stigma in the health context is the negative association between a disease and an individual or a group of people who suffer from the disease or are linked to it. It is understandable that people are fearful of this disease, but discriminating against the victim is not going to take us anywhere. In India, we began the pandemic by abusing North-Easterners that they created this “chinese-virus” and spread it in our country, and then we went on ostracizing front-line health-care workers like doctors and nurses, asking them to not return to their neighbourhoods. A social boycott and receiving the wrath of locals is the last thing we want to add to everyone’s mind. This antagonistic behaviour is inhumane, and speaks volumes of one’s mentality. More so, the stigma around the disease also means people feel the need to hide their symptoms and this can lead to underreporting of the disease, ultimately, worsening the situation in the country with increasing COVID-19 cases.

Western Australia’s department of health has already confirmed that when someone who has been unwell with COVID-19 recovers and is medically cleared and released from self-isolation, they do not pose any risk of infection to other people in the community and can safely return to work, school and other normal activities. So, start being empathetic, you would feel better about yourself and this current situation.

We are still in the middle of the pandemic, fighting a deadly virus. So, if you don’t have adequate information about the disease, please read up the facts. Read about how to care for someone who is suffering from this virus, medically, physically and emotionally. For example, if your neighbour is showing symptoms or is diagnosed positive but is quarantining in their house, it is your responsibility to offer to buy their groceries and deliver it on their doorstep, or maybe give food in disposable utensils at their doorstep. Don’t trigger their vulnerability when they are already feeling down. Twist this whole situation and imagine if you were in their shoes. Would you like it if your neighbours started gossiping about you and ignoring you just because you were tested positive for an invisible virus? Stopping this stigma is an essential part of battling against this virus, and as responsible citizens of this country, it requires collective action. Start sharing positive stories about your behaviour when you found out someone you knew (closely or not so closely) contacted this virus, because showing the light to everyone is important. If your story inspires others, then the positive snowball effect would be beyond magnificent.

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