OPINION - The new coronavirus has gripped the imagination of the global media and by extension the imagination
of the world, punctuated by breathless announcements.
Germophobia has become our new social password as mass hysteria replaces sanity and logic. We are certainly not facing an apocalypse, as the virus spreads with deniers on one side of the spectrum and alarmists on the other.
The hysteria has been
exacerbated by the intense media coverage, leading to an increase in anxiety disorders. The Covid-19 virus, to quote Churchill, is “a
riddle, wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”.
Amid the clamour for urgent action to combat the virus, we must exercise caution and remain positive as the situation evolves.
We have survived countless medical emergences in our lifetime, Covid-19 will be treated with all the medical prowess at our disposal.
Patience and calm are needed, not hysteria. We are not as resilient or robust in responding to outbreaks as we could be, because so many people lack basic medical care.
Unwarranted hysteria and fake news must be dealt with.
We are not facing an imminent threat to our civilisation.
We must avoid any false narrative that negatively impacts global health situations. Incorrect information provides a fertile ground for high impact medical news stories.
In the midst of the furore and panic over the global outbreak, precautions are of critical and pivotal importance.
The overblown rhetoric on the virus must be eliminated - this emerging infection will be contained and defeated.
The biggest crisis the global community faces today is one of truth and reason. The coronavirus has created an atmosphere that has sunk its teeth deep into the consciousness of the ill-informed.
Like all the medical crises that confronted mankind, we will with our advanced capabilities contain this encroaching medical storm.