Viral Panic
It’s gone viral. The panic and hysteria over Covid 19 is spreading faster than the actual illness. With deference to The Babylon Bee, here are some recent actual headlines from the media:
Italians won’t eat smooth pasta
Virus can live up to 3 days on surfaces
Doctors claim new corona virus causes damage to men’s testicles
Oregon and Washington ban gatherings on 250 or more
Ticket company tells customers to wear hazmat suits for Broadway show
Princess Cruises to stop all travel for 2 months
Panicked Americans stockpiling toilet paper
Famous tourist attractions deserted
Universities restricted to on-line classes
Prison labor to make hand sanitizer
It’s as if the world became a massive sci-fi movie set; a modern day version of War Of The Worlds radio broadcast during the 1930’s famously causing widespread panic among the American public. At that time, the broadcast was clearly advertised as fictional, but nevertheless, once word got out to people who didn’t know any better, an hysteria gripped the public like, well….like a virus. The notion that earth would be taken over by Martians in 40 minutes didn’t seem preposterous to many at the time. Even the people who knew it was a fictional show at the time got caught up in the hysteria according to reports;
“…The broadcast, which disrupted households, interrupted religious services, created traffic jams and clogged communications systems, was made by Orson Welles, who as the radio character, “The Shadow,” used to give “the creeps” to countless child listeners. This time at least a score of adults required medical treatment for shock and hysteria…”
In the present day, the Covid 19 virus outbreak isn’t fiction, but the over the top irrational response of people is eerily similar to the mini panic caused by Wells during his fictional show. Considering that actual fatalities have thus far been few compared to normal incidences of the ‘flu according to one source, the level of hysteria is both amusing and at the same time frightening to see. As some have noted, the total number of deaths attributable to Covid 19 is thus far less than a weekend of murders in Chicago.
People are sequestering themselves as if it was the black death of previous centuries. All I know is that in times such as this, the populace becomes vulnerable to whatever edicts are issued by ‘official’ sources. Companies are bullied into offering official policy statements to their constituents to insulate themselves from legal issues should any real grief come to pass. I’m reasonably optimistic that people will survive this recent health hysteria. Surviving the ensuing legal onslaught will be more daunting.