The Shadowed Vulnerable Communities during COVID-19. – Jai

The coronavirus disease 2019, other known as COVID- 19 is a pathogen virus infection caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). (1)  “COVID – 19 doesn’t discriminate” might seem genuine logically, but in reality it is a dangerous misleading concept considering the evident inequalities in the current society. Governments worldwide have identified the elderly and those with multiple comorbidities as medically vulnerable to COVID-19 but failed in recognising the social and economically vulnerable communities in the current pandemic.

The Economically deprived

“Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth” – Albert Camus

The financial inequality in the current pandemic is predicted in The Masque of the Red Death, a short fiction story, by Edgar Allan Poe. In facing danger, the arrogant Prince Prospero representing the authority in the story established a safe environment for him and his friends with ‘all the appliance of pleasure’.(2) In the meantime, ‘the external world could take care of itself.'(2) And no protections are offered to the poor. This is a fine illustration of inequality during a pandemic, where the wealthy or certain groups of individuals can offer better protection for themselves and means of creating fantasies that distract their fear of death. While the economically deprived does not have the luxuries to do so.

Overcrowding housing is a major factor associated with respiratory infections and other health conditions for the economically deprived. (3) It is estimated that for every increase of 5% in poor housing conditions per county in the US, there is a 59% increase in the risk of COVID–19 infections. (4) The economically deprived individuals in COVID–19, indubitably, struggle with their living environment. Statistics demonstrate that 7% of the poorest 20% of England household lives in overcrowded housing, comparing to a 0.5% in the richest 20% .(5)Lack of space in a household increases the difficulties in maintaining social distance measures and other regulations issued by the government. The stay-at-home guidelines proposed by the governmental system worldwide present an apparent issue to the economically deprived as they lack the finical abilities to afford equipment and facilities to operate at home. A study conducted by the Stanford University demonstrated 51% of American workers are currently working from their bedroom or a communal area .(6)

Unemployment is another factor faced by the economically deprived during COVID-19. 30.3 million workers in the US filed for unemployment insurance from March to April in 2020 outperforming all previous recessions. (7)

Worldwide there is an increase in youth unemployment rate. This is because the retail and hospitality industries, which youth predominantly work in, are hit the hardest in the pandemic from the lockdown and social distancing measures place by the governments. (8) Unemployment is particularly damaging for youth as many do not have sufficient savings to support their living conditions for a long time. R in the video below is an example of a vulnerable economically deprived youth during COVID-19.

With the lack of sufficient spaces and financial measures for work and daily life, the economical deprived are more vulnerable to mental disease caused from increasing stress. They will also have higher possibilities of COVID -19 infection due to overcrowding residence and decrease immunity from financial mental stress and unstable living conditions.

The Minority

“Fear is contagious.” – Neil Gaiman

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back in the 1900s AIDS and HIV are terms associated with the LGBTQ community or homosexuality. (9) Homophobia or xenophobia, representing discrimination born from uncertainty, was expressed through the film Philadelphia. Mr. Miller, the lawyer for Mr. Beckett, openly expressed the societal fear towards AIDs through stating ‘they did what most of us would do with AIDs, which is to get it and everybody who has it as far away as possible.(10) This is further emphasised in the attack towards Mr. Becket’s sexuality and lifestyle from the opposition lawyer. The opposition lawyer in her argument deliberate states that ‘the lifestyle and reckless behaviour’ of Mr. Becket ‘cut his own life short. Such allegations suggest a shifting of blame towards Mr. Becket by shamming his identity as a homosexual individual and suggests discrimination towards the minority from the fear of AIDS in the film Philadelphia.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump continuously labeled COVID – 19 as the ‘Chinese virus’, which directed the mass population to spread the mistaken fear of asian communities in western countries.

In the COVID -19, the western media has successfully directed the discussion of the pandemic into shaming the asian communities. This is expressed in the increasing number of incidents including asian victims worldwide, including Australia where the Chinese education bureau has taken steps to warn its students about the danger of continuing their education in Australia due to the increasing ‘Racist incidents’ during the coronavirus pandemic.(11) From personal experience, although I have not experienced the extreme racist attacks during the pandemic, I have on various occasions heard racist comments towards either myself or other asian individuals walking on the streets. In addition, a well-known newspaper agency in Australia, Herald Sun, published an article titled ‘Minister slams schools for turning children away, Corona Chaos, Chinese virus Pandamonium’ on the front page of its newspaper in Jan 2020,(12) deepening the blame on the Chinese communities by using negatively correlated words such as ‘chaos’. Furthermore, the made-up word Pandamonium relates to the word pandemonium which contains correlations with the concept of hell.(13) By switching out ‘pande’ with ‘panda’ , a symbol of china, this article illustrates a shifting of blame towards the Chinese population parallel with Mr. Becket’s experience in Philadelphia.

 

 

 

 

 

These events make the minority asian communities in western countries vulnerable during and after COVID – 19.

The Women

“There is no such thing as a woman who doesn’t work.” – Caroline Criado – Perez

 

‘The invisible women’ written by Caroline Criado Perez expresses an exceptional yet disturbing male default mindset in the current societies, where the ‘one-size-fits-all ‘approach to unisex products is disadvantaging women and makes the front female healthcare works vulnerable in the current pandemic. (14) Currently, 70% of workers in the National Health Service UK are females.(15) Personal protective wear(PPE) such as masks are labeled as unisex, however, it is designed to fit the default European male body shape.(16) Thus undoubtedly fits women poorly, limiting the protection received by women and making them more vulnerable in treating COVID- 19 patients.

Increase domestic violence (DV) is another factor in making women vulnerable in the pandemic. Social restrictions, exposure to economic and psychological stress, and access to negative coping measures to stress such as alcohol consumption, from the COVID regulations issued by governments worldwide stimulated domestic violence during the pandemic.(17) In Japan, the highest number of DV consultations, 132355 cases, was recorded in 2020.(18) The National Commission for Women in India recorded a 100% increase in DV complaints in April 2020 after a national lockdown imposed by the government in March 2020. This is also a growing pattern in other countries such as Canada.

COVID – 19 doesn’t discriminate against its victims but the structure of our society does. It is important that governments worldwide understand and support the social and economically vulnerable communities as well as the medically vulnerable population during COVID-19. With the current facts, it is evident that although COVID measures such as lockdown benefit the health of the general population it also creates problematic issues for certain vulnerable populations, governments should acknowledge such issues and provide alternative solutions.

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Reference

1. Shereen, M. A., Khan, S., Kazmi, A., Bashir, N., & Siddique, R. (2020). COVID-19 infection: Origin, transmission, and characteristics of human coronaviruses. Journal of advanced research, 24, 91–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jare.2020.03.005
2. POE, E. A., RATHBONE, B., & SACKLER, H. (1988). The masque of the red death, and other poems and tales of Edgar Allan Poe. New York, NY, Caedmon.
3. James Krieger and Donna L. Higgins, 2002:Housing and Health: Time Again for Public Health Action American Journal of Public Health, 92, 758_768, https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.92.5.758
4. Ahmad K, Erqou S, Shah N, Nazir U, Morrison AR, Choudhary G, et al. (2020) Association of poor housing conditions with COVID-19 incidence and mortality across US counties. PLoS ONE 15(11): e0241327. https://doi. org/10.1371/journal.pone.0241327
5. JRF, n.d , Non-decent housing and overcrowding. https://www.jrf.org.uk/data/non-decent-housing-and-overcrowding [Internet]. Joseph Rowntree Foundation. [cited 2020 Apr 10].
6. Johanson, M., 2021.How your space shapes the way you view remote work. [online] Bbc.com. Available at: <https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210218-how-your-space-shapes-the-way-you-view-remote-work> .
7. Aahin, A., Tasci, M., Yan, Jin,.(2020) The unemployment Cost of Covid – 19: How High and How Long, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, https://www.clevelandfed.org/en/newsroom-and-events/publications/economic-commentary/2020-economic-commentaries/ec-202009-unemployment-costs-of-covid.aspx
8. Inanc, Hande. 2020. “Breaking Down the Numbers: What Does COVID-19 Mean for Youth Unemployment?” Cambridge, MA: Mathematica. https://www.mathematica.org/our-publications-and- findings/publications/breaking-down-the-numbers-what-does-covid-19-mean-for-youth-unemployment
9. Aizenman, N., 2019. NPR Cookie Consent and Choices. [online] Npr.org. Available at: <https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/02/09/689924838/how-to-demand-a-medical-breakthrough-lessons-from-the-aids-fight>
10. Philadelphia. 1993. [DVD] Directed by J. Demme. Hollywood: TriStars Pictures.
11. Birtles, B., 2020. Chinese students warned against studying in Australia due to ‘racist incidents’. [online] Abc.net.au. Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-09/china-warns-students-not-to-return-to-australia-after-coronaviru/12337044
12. fu, J., 2020. 报告揭澳媒疫情期间涉歧视报道，5大手法浮出水面！华社成攻击焦点，数十万人已请愿（组图）(5 ways of rascisim report by Australia media. Chinese are the targets)  | 今日悉尼(Sydney today News). [online] Sydneytoday.com. Available at: https://www.sydneytoday.com/content-102046557384010
13. Merriam-webster.com. n.d. Definition of PANDEMONIUM. [online] Available at: <https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pandemonium> .
14. Criado-Perez, C., 2019. Invisible women : exposing data bias in a world designed for men / Caroline Criado Perez.,
15. Topping, A., 2020.Sexism on the Covid-19 frontline: ‘PPE is made for a 6ft 3in rugby player’. [online] The Guardian. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/24/sexism-on-the-covid-19-frontline-ppe-is-made-for-a-6ft-3in-rugby-player> .
16. Porterfield, C., 2020. A Lot Of PPE Doesn’t Fit Women—And In The Coronavirus Pandemic, It Puts Them In Danger. [online] Forbes. Available at: <https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2020/04/29/a-lot-of-ppe-doesnt-fit-women-and-in-the-coronavirus-pandemic-it-puts-them-in-danger/?sh=57447406315a> .
17. Gautam Gulati, Brendan D. Kelly,(2020),Domestic violence against women and the COVID-19 pandemic: What is the role of psychiatry?,International Journal of Law and Psychiatry,Volume 71,101594,ISSN 0160-2527, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2020.101594.
18. 日本経済新聞 ( Japanese Economic News). 2021. 20年度のDV相談、最多の13万件超　コロナ外出自粛で (DV consultations in 2020, the highest in history over 130000 cases). [online] Available at: <https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQODG125JZ0S1A110C2000000/>

Figure reference

Cover picture – A collage of three pictures;

1. Yimgrimm, T., 2016.Businessman Taking Money Out of Piggy Bank. stock illustration. [image] Available at: <https://www.istockphoto.com/vector/businessman-taking-money-out-of-piggy-bank-gm532252094-94171673>
2. Fankhauser, J., 2020.Racism towards Asian-Australians. [image] Available at: <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-08/racism-toward-asian-australians-1/12221308?nw=0>
3. Sabetian, S., 2020.COVID-19 MAKES WOMEN MORE VULNERABLE TO CORRUPTION. [image] Available at: <https://www.transparency.org/en/news/covid-19-makes-women-more-vulnerable-to-corruption>

Figure 1

Kessler, B., 2020. COVID-19: A Turning Point for Inequality?. [image] Available at: <https://knowledge.insead.edu/blog/insead-blog/covid-19-a-turning-point-for-inequality-13811>

Figure 2

Aysegul, S., Murat, T. and Jin, Y., 2020. Weekly initial claims for unemployment insurance. [image] Available at: <https://www.clevelandfed.org/en/newsroom-and-events/publications/economic-commentary/2020-economic-commentaries/ec-202009-unemployment-costs-of-covid.aspx> .

Figure 3

SIDC Educate Engage Empower, 2015. HIV/AIDS is NOT A CRIME!. [image] Available at: <http://sidc-lebanon.org/hiv-aids-is-not-a-crime/>.

Figure 4

ABC News via Pexels/Cotton Bro, 2020. An anti-racism coronavirus campaign image. [image] Available at: <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-05/an-anti-racism-coronavirus-campaign-image-1/12212754?nw=0>

Figure 5 & 6

fu, J., 2020. 报告揭澳媒疫情期间涉歧视报道，5大手法浮出水面！华社成攻击焦点，数十万人已请愿（组图）(5 ways of rascisim report by Australia media. Chinese are the targets)  | 今日悉尼(Sydney today News). [online] Sydneytoday.com. Available at: https://www.sydneytoday.com/content-102046557384010

Figure 7

Bertacchini, F., 2020. Covid-19: a Women’s Issue. [image] Available at: <https://www.dianova.org/news/covid-19-a-womens-issue/>.