“The threat of the Corona Virus is very real, but is all the panic it has raised in the U.S. appropriate?”
Lorena G. | April 21, 2020
Note from site admin: This article as written by a contributing writer reflects their own opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of MyZapata.com.
The threat of the Corona Virus is very real, but is all the panic it has raised in the U.S. appropriate? The Corona Virus panic in the United Sates is substantially excessive and is negatively affecting people all over the country. People have lost their jobs; businesses have been forced to close for the time being if they are not considered a necessity. People have even started to stop going to the hospital regarding serious health conditions in fear of corona virus in hospitals.
Mandatory quarantine caused by the virus has increased everyone’s irritability; because of this, domestic violence reports have largely increased overall since March of this year. Calls have increased by 55% to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, and those with previous abusive tendencies have used the Corona Virus outbreak to threaten their families and use it to their advantage. Domestic violence has not only increased in the United States, but all over the world as well.
Demands for alcohol have also significantly increased since quarantine started. Compared to last year, the overall percentage of alcoholic beverage sales has increased by 55%. Specifically, wine sales have increased by 66%, beer sales have increased by 34% and online sales have increased by a tremendous 243%. This rise in sales increases the risk of people becoming alcoholics and in turn can increase the percentage of domestic violence cases. Neither domestic violence nor alcohol abuse is beneficial to emotional or physical health and should be taken seriously.
Business everywhere have been forced to close if they are not considered essential such as, barber shops, salons, theaters, gyms, shopping malls, clothing stores, etc. Whereas those that are considered essential can remain open such as, grocery stores, food banks, clinics, hospitals, gas stations, hardware stores, pharmacies, post offices, etc. Although it can be understandable to not allow certain “nonessential” business to operate during this time, it has caused negative effects. Naturally, if one doesn’t have a job, they can’t pay their bills or feed their family; this creates a problem. For example, the inability to go to the barber shop or salon has caused people to start cutting their own hair at home. While cutting your own hair at home is not a bad thing, charging people to cut their hair from home is in fact, illegal. It is illegal for both unlicensed as well as licensed cosmetologists to work from home, but because of quarantine it is difficult for people who have lost their jobs to find work and make money.
Ever since more and more people have started being admitted into hospitals due to the Corona Virus, there has been a decrease in patients that would normally fill hospitals beds with appendicitis, stroke symptoms, gall bladder infections, chest pains, etc. Why is that? Doctors believe that people are afraid of going to hospitals in fear of coming into contact with the virus despite a potential major health risk that comes with staying home. People that wait too long to go to the hospital worsen their health condition and can be very dangerous which can ultimately lead to more serious infections and complications. Hospitals discharged as many people they could in anticipation for a large influx of patients with the Corona Virus, when in reality many hospitals only have a relatively small amount of patients with the virus.
All over the United States it is highly recommended and enforced that people stay quarantined and practice social distancing to reduce the amount of people that get infected because of the virus. Even with social distancing in practice there was an estimated total of 245,000 deaths because of the Corona Virus. Although, all of a sudden the estimated numbers drastically changed and there is now an estimated 60,000 deaths by the end of this August because of the virus. 60,000 deaths is a lot of people although nowhere near the first estimation of 245,000. Hundreds of thousands of people die every year altogether from drug overdoses, suicide, car accidents, alcohol abuse, diabetes and the flu but we don’t put nearly as much attention to those equally important problems as we do the Corona Virus. About 61,000 people died from the flu in 2018 even with the flu vaccines and effective medicine to help combat the flu virus; people are still currently dying from the Flu while the epidemic is happening but we are paying little to no attention to that fact.
The news media also uses situations to influence people into believing something that may or not be necessarily true. For example, doctors are currently distributing the drug hydoxychloriquil to patients with the Corona Virus to assist those combat and overcome the virus. Although many people in the media claim it is highly ineffective and unsafe. Why would doctors distribute hydoxychloriquil if it really was ineffective? There are patients that no longer have the virus because of that medicine. If the medicine really was that harmful to patients I believe they wouldn’t still be currently distributing it to patients with the virus. Situations like this in the news media instill even more fear in people and can decrease the amount of people who feel safe enough to go to the hospital.
Overall, the excessive panic from the pandemic has created so many different issues regarding the lives and health of others. Stress from money loss and difficulties caused by the increase of unemployment have an effect on domestic and alcohol abuse. The fear of the virus increases future health risks and complications. The over estimation of Corona Virus deaths also greatly contributes to the amount of fear instilled in people all over the country. In order to decrease the amount problems from excessive panic, the truth about the Corona Virus needs to be revealed. That may include having our politicians be held accountable and aware of how all decisions they make regarding the virus can have a big impact on the overall well being of the people.
Citations:
Bernstien, Lenny, and Frances Stead Sellers. “Patients with heart attacks, strokes and even appendicitis vanish from hospitals.”MSN News, 19 Apr. 2020, Accessed 19 Apr. 2020.
Byington, Lillinana. “Alcohol sales spike as consumers stockpile amid COVID-19 pandemic.”Food Dive, 2 Apr. 2020, Accessed 19 Apr. 2020.
“Here’s the difference between an ‘essential’ business and a ‘nonessential’ business as more than 30 states have imposed restrictions.”Business Insider, 31 Mar. 2020, Accessed 19 Apr. 2020.
Kingkade, Tyler. “Police see rise in domestic violence calls amid coronavirus lockdown.”NBC News, 5 Apr. 2020, Accessed 19 Apr. 2020.
Sherman, Paul. “Unlicensed Haircuts Are Only the Beginning.”MSN, 15 Apr. 2020, Accessed 19 Apr. 2020.
“Tucker: Are some of our leaders and the media addicted to doom and gloom?”Youtube, uploaded by Fox News, 8 Apr. 2020, Accessed 19 Apr. 2020.