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Coronavirus Has Exposed Racism More Than the Disease

Coronavirus is currently the most threatening of all issues in the world. By the way, 2020 has just started and there is already enough going on to handle; be it the Australian bushfires or the imminent World War 3. Coronavirus started in Wuhan, China due to the consumption of meat of the animal which was already affected by this dreaded virus. The symptoms somewhat resmeble those of pneumonia and the mortality rate is 2% already. This implies that every 10,000 out of one million affected people might lose their lives to the Coronavirus. It sounds scary on many levels.

WHO declared a public health emergency which meant that every country was now on its toed to evacuate its citizens from China and then subsequently disconnect the flying connections with it. needless to say that it has severely affected the trade and businesses in China. People neither want to visit the country nor have anyone over from China. Beijing has also locked down eighteen main cities which implies the schools are closed and everyone has t work from home. Since the world is now a global village, there are many Chinese people residing in different parts of the world. The fear is soaring high.

As much as the experts say that Coronavirus causes death only in people with the already weak immune system and it will automatically get better as the weather gets warm, people find it hard to believe that this would be the case. In fact, more than the precautionary measures and fear of death, it is also racism which is fuelling such measures and scare.

Humans expose their worst side during the worst times. It was a complete shocker when I came to know about some of the vilest and insensitive comments by people around me who blamed the Chinese people themselves for this catastrophe. Even a pandemic like Coronavirus which has killed 361 people so far provided to be fodder for memes. Since victim-blaming is our favourite sport and it becomes even more ‘fun when it is coupled with our hatred for a particular race and ethnicity.

Coronavirus is not here forever. It has come as an epidemic and will soon leave. But what should leave before Coronavirus is racism and a complete lack of empathy for a nation which is already going through a crisis.

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