Pandemic And Paranoia Versus Fearing, Caring And Sharing: Amidst the panic what message are we sending to our children

By Yvonne Sam
Contributing Columnist

The news has been received: yes, the coronavirus is here. Fear not. But mass panic is also here — fear.

As a health-care professional for more than four decades, there is very little to which I have not been exposed in my profession — HIV, whooping cough, tuberculosis, shingles, measles, hepatitis, diphtheria. And with noteworthy exception of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Acute Syndrome), very little has left me feeling vulnerable, overwhelmed or straight-out scared.

I am not overly afraid of COVID 19. Instead, I am deeply concerned about the ramifications of a smacking new infectious germ that has disseminated.

I am not scared of COVID-19. I am concerned about the implications of a novel infectious agent that has spread, the world over, and continues to find new footholds in different soil.

I am rightly concerned for the welfare of those, who are elderly, in frail health or disenfranchised, who stand to suffer mostly, and disproportionately, at the hands of this new scourge. But I am not scared of COVID-19.

What I am scared about is the loss of reason and wave of fear that has induced the masses of society, into a spellbinding spiral of panic, stockpiling obscene quantities of anything that could fill a bomb shelter, adequately, in a post apocalyptic world.

I am scared of the N95 masks that are stolen from hospitals and urgent-care clinics, where they are actually needed for frontline health care providers and, instead, are being donned in airports, malls and coffee lounges, perpetuating even more fear and suspicion of others.

I am scared that our hospitals will be overwhelmed with anyone who thinks they “probably don’t have it, but may as well get checked out, no matter what, because you just never know..…”.

And those with heart failure, emphysema, pneumonia and strokes will pay the price for overfilled ER waiting rooms with only so many doctors and nurses to assess.

But mostly, I’m scared about what message we are telling our kids, when faced with a threat. Instead of reason, rationality, open-mindedness and altruism, we are telling them to panic, be fearful, suspicious, reactionary and self-interested.

I am scared that travel restrictions will become so far reaching, that weddings will be canceled, graduations missed and family reunions will not materialize. And well, even that big party called the Olympic Games … that could be kiboshed, too.

Can you even imagine?

I’m scared those same epidemic fears will limit trade, harm partnerships in multiple sectors, business and otherwise, and ultimately culminate in a global recession.

But mostly, I’m scared about what message we are telling our kids, when faced with a threat. Instead of reason, rationality, open-mindedness and altruism, we are telling them to panic, be fearful, suspicious, reactionary and self-interested.

COVID-19 is nowhere near over. It will be coming to a city, a hospital, a friend, even a family member, near you, at some point. Expect it. Stop waiting to be surprised further. The fact is the virus itself will not likely do much harm when it arrives. But our own behaviors and “fight for yourself above all else” attitude could prove disastrous.

I implore you all: temper fear with reason, panic with patience and uncertainty with education. We have an opportunity to learn a great deal about health hygiene and limiting the spread of innumerable transmissible diseases in our society.

Let’s meet this challenge, together, in the best spirit of compassion for others, patience, and above all, an unfailing effort to seek truth, facts and knowledge, as opposed to conjecture, speculation and catastrophizing.

Facts, not fear. Clean hands. Open hearts. Our children will thank us for it.

Social distancing could qualify as an oxymoron in Italy, where walking, arm-in-arm, with friends, kissing neighbors in greeting and patting the heads of babies are part of the demonstrative culture.

But a new virus has rapidly redefined the concept of respecting personal space for tactile Italians, as well as for South Koreans, Filipinos, Americans, Spaniards and citizens of many other crowded parts of the world.

Whether acting under government orders or following basic public health advice, people are putting distance between themselves to keep the coronavirus away. The new rules of engagement call for maintaining a gap, of one to two meters (or three to six feet), to prevent possible exposure when an infected individual coughs or speaks.

The safe-space standards also reveal how closely humans positioned themselves before. Overnight, habits of a lifetime, and of an entire society, were turned upside down.

Yvonne Sam, a retired Head Nurse and Secondary School Teacher, is Vice-president of the Guyana Cultural Association of Montreal. A regular columnist for over two decades with the Montreal Community Contact, her insightful and incursive articles on topics ranging from politics, human rights and immigration, to education and parenting have also appeared in the Huffington Post, Montreal Gazette, XPressbogg and Guyanese OnLine. She is also the recipient of the Governor General of Canada Caring Canadian Citizen Award.