These days we are all involved in the latest global “trend”, the novel Corona virus. There’s a few patterns that I’ve noticed that worries me greatly and it’s less about the virus.

People, especially in Norway, shrug by the very mention of Covid-19. There’s been cases where infected people have disobeyed the orders of their doctors and broken quarantine.

Not only is that arrogant and reckless, but it’s wildly irresponsible. Perhaps they venture out because they don’t feel too sick. Maybe it’s because they have shit to do. Or maybe it’s because Covid-19 is just a scare-tactic by the government, who knows, but going out there and spreading it to other people, people who might not be able to fight it, is basically murder.

The dangers of ignorance

The other thing is the vast ignorance surrounding this thing. “Corona has been around for ages, they knew about it, it’s a scare tactic!” I remember reacting with a huh? the first time I heard this. It seems that people think that “Corona” is a new name for this virus, when in fact, it’s just a virus within the Corona family.

They call it Corona becuase it’s informal and easy to identify. So that people like Trump can pronounce it. Tell him to say SARS-CoV-2 or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrom Coronavirus 2, and we might have a stroke on our hands.

But see, that’s the thing. People tend to read about things on the surface level and the moment they find what they think they looked for, they’re happy and will proudly share their findings in social media. That is the dangerous side of the Dunning-Kruger Effect.

In other words, it’s not as simple as the flu. Covid-19, or SARS-CoV-2, is one of 3 viruses that has made the leap from animals to humans within the last 30 years. First, it was the birdflu, or H5N1 in 2003. Then it was the swineflu, or H1N1 in 2009. And now, the (most likely) “Bat”Flu of 2020, or SARS-CoV-2.

It escalates

Even if it should be as “benigne” as the regular flu, the fact that it hasn’t just been cured yet should make people act with more caution.

The fact that the mortality rate went from 1% to 3%(numbers are still unclear) is also something that shouldn’t be taken lightly. We simply don’t know enough about this thing to make conclusions as dangerous as “meh”.

It affects supply lines

There’s a huge difference between acting in full panic and staying ahead of something that might interrupt the flow of daily life. People who are told to stay in quarantine, creates vacancy in their job posts. If a student gets infected, the entire class is put in quarantine.

People working in transport and logistics gets infected and it will stop the delivery of food to the stores. People will panic and food will become scarce. It’s easy to think “it won’t happen to me”. But that won’t stop the virus. Neither will it stop reckless people from venturing out and infecting more people.

Some people are actually mocking those with concerns. Many of those infected in the US can’t even afford to be tested. These two factors alone means that infected people will hold their tongue and thus, the virus gets spread even more.

We live in interesting times, with things being covered up all over the place, scare tactics are being deployed globally and people live in a constant state of uncertainty. Where this will end, we don’t know, but personally, I’m surprised that people are not going to greater lengths to protect one another.

This truly shows that we have a long way to go in order to reach harmony and I fear things will become a lot worse before they get better. It seems that people need a massive slap in the face to see the truth beyond social media.

Good luck out there. And read beyond “corona” next time, will you? If you’re spreading news, atleast make it somewhat in thread with the actual event.

If you read this because of the header picture….. –got yah!