제 5 호 Corona Virus
Kicker: SOCIETY (DISEASE)
Corona Virus
Sociological Approach to Disease Inside the Country
By Eugene Ha, Reporter
There has been a big issue around the world since New Year’s Day in 2020. It is not a nuclear bomb, not a world war, it is a virus. This is a new type of corona virus from China. This is a pathogen like SARS and MERS that causes severe respiratory symptoms, which have been problematic worldwide. Various phenomena are emerging due to this virus, and I would like to look at them from a sociological perspective in the categories of Aversion, Discrimination, Psychology and Countermeasures.
∙ Aversion and Discrimination
The first social phenomenon to be highlighted by the new type of corona virus is an aversion that is more frightening than infection. It is a phenomenon of loathing for Chinese and Asians. We can clearly see this phenomenon through all the articles on the Internet, SNS, and related words mentioned with “disgusting.” In the last week of January, when the corona 19 began, “China” ranked 3rd after “Women” and “People,” and “Corona” first appeared in 5th place. From the third week of February, “Chinese” ranked 2nd, “Chinese Abomination” in 10th and “Chinese Entry” in 12th place. The frequency of the use of hateful expressions of “jjangkae,” which means disparaging Chinese people, has also increased. And we can see the emotional words mentioned were changed to “infected,” “disgusted” and “horror.”
This aversion is spreading to Xenophobia, not simply stopping from Chinese abhorrence. Xenophobia which “Xenos,” means “a stranger” and “phobos,” means “horror, fear” is excluding and hating foreigners or strangers.
▲Related words with Phobia and Xenophobia
In response, many human rights activists said, “Infectious diseases are a phenomenon that can be caught by anyone and spread around the world, but putting negative expressions on specific regions, gender and race can be the basis of discrimination.” It is creating an abomination and creating unfair human rights victims.
This does not stop at discrimination. It affects Chinese food, culture and business. This is not a right thing.
∙ Psychology
People’s fears of an infection are growing as they see real-time news on TV and see the growing number of infected people day by day. Corona symptoms include fever, cough, and sore throat. However, people wonder if it is corona even if they have headaches due to such anxiety and fear. If you look at the Internet, there are “corona headaches,” “corona stomachaches,” “corona dizziness,” and “corona diarrhea”. At times like this, the public needs to be more calm. However, there are some people who abuse using this psychology. There are people who write articles, sell foods or things that are not known to prevent disease, or make fake news about infected people and the dead. Such an immoral phenomenon should not occur. People should work together to overcome such an inevitable disease like the virus.
∙Countermeasures
With more and more infected people coming out and their movements identified, Corona-related sites and applications are becoming an issue. On January 30, a “Corona Map,” which a student at Kyung Hee University made, allows users to see the movements of the infected patients.
▲Korea's first coronavirus-related site, “Corona Map”
The “Corona Al-li-mi’’ site, developed by four students from KoreaUniversity, was then introduced on Feb. 2. Based on location information, this allows users to search for the location of an infected patient’s visit, a specific map of the clinic near the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and phone numbers. The other one, the “Coronaita” site, tells the number of places that have been closed or visited by a person within a three-kilometer radius of a particular place nationwide. And on March 5th, college students who created the above “Corona Al-li-mi” site opened the “Mask Al-li-mi” site, which provides information on mask inventory at convenience stores. They are also looking for ways to inform about not only convenience stores but also drug stores and marts.
▲From the left “Corona Al-li-mi”, “Coronaita”, and “Mask Al-li-mi”
Now, if you look at the government's counterplan, there are postponement of elementary, middle and high schools, remote classes for college students, mask supply, and office telecommuting.
Schools where young students live together all day and share meals are more vulnerable to infectious diseases. The opening of school on March 2nd was postponed until March 16th. Two weeks later it was postponed an additional 23 days due to severe local infection. Because it is impossible to secure enough masks to provide to students at present, there are no people who will agree to open schools under these such circumstances. Also, because university students gather from various regions, most universities are offering alternative courses by remote classes until April. Since office workers have to work with masks on and are exposed to infection, many companies are allowing telecommuting.
The most problematic phenomenon is the lack of masks. As a result, the government introduced on March 5th that people can purchase masks according to their year of birth at pharmacies. You can buy two masks with your ID. It was implemented as a measure to cope with the unstable supply and demand of masks.
In conclusion, the new corona virus has become a major issue worldwide, and we could find how it has affected various aspects of society. We could see changes in the way people cope with the situation and people's perception and behavior. Also, people could get fast and accurate information through various applications or sites. However, it is not right to just ignore and watch the situation where the Phobia phenomena leads to discriminatory remarks and indiscriminate assaults toward Asians as well as Chinese. The government should provide support in treating patients and provide monitoring and care to prevent the disease from spreading, and citizens should work together to prevent infection by doing social distancing and putting themselves in quarantine.
Sources:
http://www.mediatoday.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=205745
http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/society/rights/931870.html
https://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=2009635&cid=43667&categoryId=43667
https://www.fnnews.com/news/202003141638557570
https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20200313172500004?input=1195m
http://news.kbs.co.kr/news/view.do?ncd=4396733&ref=A
https://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=5926931&cid=43667&categoryId=43667
