Insouciance to the misery of “others”

Much as we try, the concept of “us” and “ours” pervades that thin layer and it comes so easy to accept that concept of “others”

When news of the coronavirus in China began to make headlines, many felt a degree of comfort in that this was something happening over there, to others and the West was not duly concerned, when the steps should have been:

1. An immediate coming together of all nations to begin looking at how we can come up with a cure (even if the virus was only in China)
2. How to best avoid it spreading
3. Lockdown in the countries the virus initially spread to (Italy, US, Spain and the UK)
4. Collective mass production of PPE, ventilators and urgent creation of additional hospital beds and immediate ramp-up of testing
5. Establish the most vulnerable and begin phased return of the least and less vulnerable to work in order to avoid economic catastrophe that will claim more lives in the aftermath of Covid-19

Instead, the concept of “Others” set in:

a. Some thought the virus was a hoax (if only the loss of tens of thousands of lives could be fake news! Not to talk of the millions of friends and families such losses impact! How can we be so callous??)

b. We all saw photos of hundreds in the UK sunbathing in parks and at beaches last weekend and Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer (a lady who spent most of last month telling everyone to stay at home but failed to apply the same rules herself) forced to resign last weekend and New Zealand’s should have been sacked for the same reprehensible act. People appear unable to comprehend the simple fact that spreading the virus to those less fortunate (e.g. those with underlying illnesses) leads to their death and the fact that they are not our direct relatives shouldn’t matter (they are someone else’s grand parents or brother, sister, wife, husband etc.)

There’s a number of press releases of companies saying they are donating litres of hand sanitizers etc. Why are those gestures turning into marketing opportunities???

This is a pandemic that has claimed thousands of lives and is set to claim thousands more! It is not a photo op and should not be used as a marketing or business development opportunity!

The level/display of indifference is absolutely staggering!