When rumours spread faster than the virus..

Published in

Child Awareness Project

3 min readSep 25, 2020

“Drink lots of water to keep the virus at bay. Oh, I’ve lately started eating a lot of garlic since it helps fight off COVID 19. I’m also not drinking cold stuff or eating icecreams. I plan to move into my ancestral home since it is relatively hot and humid there. Don’t we all know how COVID 19 doesn’t spread in hot weather?”

Government officials, health care workers, and each one of us is falling prey to such rumours or spreading them ourselves knowingly or unknowingly. The overdose of immunity-related food products is now the latest marketing gimmick[6] in COVID times. In extreme cases, doctors have come across patients with Vitamin D toxicity because of consuming such immunity boosters and supplements in excess. While this essay does not aim at stating the myths and the truths during the pandemic( since there’s plenty of credible information[1] that does so), it delves into the psychosocial impacts of COVID 19. Mass fear of COVID-19, termed as “coronaphobia”, has made its way into psychiatric manifestations across the different strata of the society[2]. These psychosocial issues become a serious reason for concern when they lead to grave health consequences.

UNICEF recently released a presentation on ‘Psychosocial Support for Children during COVID-19’ [3] that helps parents, caregivers, support persons, and children and adolescents themselves. It is a tool that will enable us to not only better understand COVID-19 and the necessary precautions but also manage related stress, fear, and anxiety, and recognize the increased risk of violence, and thus help them stay safe. Psycho-education therefore, of parents and caregivers, to support children in these difficult times and build their resilience is imperative. Another great resource is the ‘Mental health and psychosocial considerations during the COVID-19 outbreak’ published by the World Health Organisation(WHO)[4]

Another widely observed cause of concern in my immediate community as well as around the world is the stigma associated with COVID 19. As homes, offices, or even entire communities are sealed, the society seems to have labelled those tested positive with the tag even after they have completely recovered. As mentioned in [3], it is important to separate a person from having an identity defined by COVID-19, in order to reduce stigma. This stigma could cause panic-stricken and uneducated people to take extreme irrational measures, including the possibility that people with symptoms do not proceed to get themselves tested.

Given the current uncertainty around the medical aspects of this infection, where even scientists are unable to make concrete statements and the rapid pace with which the research is progressing, scientists are experiencing tremendous amounts of pressure from institutions and governments to publish valuable insights which reduce the rigour of the scientific methodology[5]. Due to the changing circumstances and uncertainty surrounding the disease, information is being updated (also being outdated) by the day. As educated citizens, not only is it our due responsibility to refrain from sharing incorrect information (Whatsapp University) but also to keep our house-help and others from the marginalised community informed about the right information regarding the pandemic.

References:

When rumours spread faster than the virus..

Written by Akshatha Kamath