Public health emergencies, such as the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), are stressful times for people and communities.
Fear and anxiety about a disease can result in negative stigma towards persons, places, or things. Stigma and prejudice, for example, may arise when people associate a disease like Covid-19 with a population or ethnicity, although not everyone in that population or area is directly at risk for a the disease.
Stigma may also occur after a person has been released fromCovid-19 quarantine, although they are not considered to pose a risk to the virus spread.
It is fair to say that people, including those of Asian descent who do not live in or have not been in areas affected by Covid-19 recently, are not at risk for the spread of the virus. Stigma causes damage to others by inducing anxiety or resentment towards others. Stigmatised groups can be subject to social rejection, health care denial, schooling, housing, work, physical rejection.
Stigma affects marginalized individuals ‘ long term health and the cultures in which they live. It is crucial to avoid stigma that we build a culture that is immune to the pandemic.
By learning information about the virus and sharing them with others, everyone will help avoid stigma related to Covid-19. Contracting the disease is not the dream of coronavirus patients. You never know what may happen tomorrow. You may be the one that has been infected or your immediate relative might be victims to it. By protecting anonymity, communicators and officials in charge of public health will help combat stigma.
Medical experts need to exchange knowledge on Covid19 without increasing fear. They will share precise details about how the virus is spreading. We will also speak out about harmful attitudes that could reinforce the stigma by shaming people on social media who post misleading claims about the disease.
I also feel on this, the so-called ‘social media influencers’ must be stopped, perhaps by the law, from sharing images of those affected by the disease online.Such images only reinforce stereotypes associated with the disease.
People who have traveled to places where the Covid-19 outbreak was experienced should observe self-quarantine. All the foreign assistance that nations can mobilize should be provided to our friends in China. Governments around the world must be passionate about battling the disease, because it is the only way to resolve the stigma by preventing it.