Mass hysteria

IF YOU enter any pharmacy or grocery, you will see empty shelves where the stocks of rubbing alcohol are.

The people you pass on the street are wearing masks of different sizes, types and colors. Even the supposedly single-use surgical mask is being made to stretch a lifespan of weeks.

Everywhere on the news you hear about the coronavirus and its rising number of infections. Images from Wuhan City in China look like scenes from “28 Weeks Later”.

People bash the Philippine government because the latter is too afraid to step on Xi Jin Ping’s toes and deny entry of Chinese nationals to the Philippines.

The coronavirus has the world on edge. It seems even more so than its predecessors like MERS-CoV, SARS, bird flu, swine flu and many others. It may be because there is no known cure, it’’s easily transmittable, it’s spreading at an alarming rate all over the world, and the media is having a heyday covering its progress.

One of the things I learned in school is how the media has the power to shape our opinions and even our attitudes. One of these ways is by sensationalism. It is how they can make “two confirmed cases” or “305 dead” sound scared than the 2,100 confirmed deaths caused by the common flu (source: Center for Disease Control and Prevention).

It reminds me of an old event that happened, the Salem witch trials, that were caused by mass hysteria. The current events are slightly similar, some girls in Salem, Massachussets started acting strange and were believed to be sick. Nobody could find an explanation for what was happening. They later on came to the conclusion that it was witchcraft and it resulted in mass panic and executions.

I know people are more intelligent and sensible nowadays (at least I hope so). We wouldn’t worry about something unless there was undeniable proof, and taking precautions really is important, but how far will it go until the people star to panic, like REALLY panic?

Now all we see are snarky memes on the internet but there is just a fine line between finding humor and realizing the cruel truth. One day with just enough triggers society will fall down into dystopia. If everything keeps going on like this we might just end up like the people on “Train to Busan”.

People in China are already throwing their pets out of their windows because some idiot media outlet misconstrued a doctor’s announcement and stated that “cats and dogs can spread the disease”. It will be a world where there will be no more sense of camaraderie and morals.

People will have to go to grave measures to protect themselves. (angelica.panaynews@gmail.com/PN)