When my colleague Jamie Ducharme tested positive for COVID-19 in January, she was struck by how many people asked her where she got it. "The questions were good-natured," she says, "but they still made me feel somehow responsible for getting infected. That got me thinking about why a case of COVID-19 brings up such different emotions than getting sick with the flu or a cold."
Jamie found that she wasn’t alone. As she reports, one 2021 study of about 350 COVID-19 patients conducted in Israel found that 13% felt a strong sense of shame about their infection, while 16% felt guilty. In one U.S. survey, researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that 25% of people queried said they would feel ashamed if they became infected.
Those reactions make COVID-19 unique among most respiratory diseases and put them in closer company with sexually transmitted diseases and mental health disorders, which still carry stigmas. As Jamie reports, part of the problem comes from the fact that public health agencies like the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have constantly emphasized the steps individuals can take to avoid the virus, like masking and social distancing. Following the rules makes you feel like a good citizen. But contracting the virus, even if you do adhere to guidelines, makes you feel as if you’ve failed in some way—and that leads to the toxic guilt-shame combination.
"Guilt is, 'I feel bad about what I did,' and shame is, 'I am bad because of what I did,'" Sonya Norman, a professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, told Jamie. Internalizing shame can come with significant mental health consequences, including depression and low self-esteem, research has shown.
Health officials can take steps to mitigate the guilt-shame spiral surrounding COVID-19, including changing the language used to describe how the disease spreads. Rather than saying someone "transmitted" the virus or "infected" someone else, it’s better to talk about the disease being "acquired" or "contracted," one expert suggests. Helping people who are sick with COVID-19 feel cared for, rather than blamed, can relieve them of an unnecessary burden.
More than 425.9 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 12 a.m. E.T. today, and more than 5.8 million people have died. On Feb. 21, there were 1.4 million new cases and 3,118 new deaths confirmed globally.
Here's how the world as a whole is currently trending, in terms of cases:
And in terms of deaths:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
And here's every country that has reported over 5.5 million cases:
The U.S. had recorded more than 78.5 million coronavirus cases as of 12 a.m. E.T. today. More than 935,000 people have died. On Feb. 21, there were 49,965 new cases and 655 new deaths confirmed in the U.S.
Here's how the country as a whole is currently trending in terms of cases:
And in terms of deaths:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of Feb. 22, 12 a.m. E.T. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
Hong Kong has ordered its entire population of 7.5 million people to undergo COVID-19 testing as it struggles to control an Omicron surge that began in early January, reports the Associated Press. Health officials will process about one million tests per day, meaning it will take just a week or so to cover all residents. People who test positive will either be admitted to a hospital or sent to a quarantine facility.
Protests against COVID-19 restrictions continue around the Parliament building in Wellington, New Zealand, as police try dispersal measures such as turning on lawn sprinklers and blaring Barry Manilow music, reports the Wall Street Journal. Police have also set up concrete barriers to prevent the arrival of more vehicles blocking Parliament, and have now begun arresting some of the protesters. Officials have thus far resisted physically evicting the protesters out of fear that that would lead to violence. One more obstacle to resolving the standoff: the protesters have no designated leader or leadership group with whom to negotiate.
Buckingham Palace sparked worries when it announced today that Queen Elizabeth II—who tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 20—was canceling all virtual audiences,reports CNN. The news of the cancellations comes just a day after the palace announced that despite the 95-year-old monarch’s COVID-19 diagnosis, she was continuing with "light duties." Besides confirming that the queen is fully vaccinated, the palace has disclosed no other medical details, citing medical privacy.
Elsewhere in the U.K., Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced yesterday the lifting of virtually all pandemic-related restrictions in England, reports the Washington Post. People who have the virus will no longer face mandatory stay-at-home orders; masking rules on public transportation are expected to be lifted in London by Mayor Sadiq Khan as well, according to the BBC. Free universal testing for the virus will also end on April 1.
Hawaii remains the lone holdout among states lifting or planning to lift their indoor mask requirements, reports The New York Times. Hawaii’s case rate has plunged 70%—and its hospitalization rate has dropped by 50%—over the past two weeks; state officials may be reluctant to mess with the success it’s currently experiencing. Still., Gov. David Ige is considering his options, telling KITV4 last week that he is “working with the Department of Health to determine when the time is right for Hawaii to lift the indoor mask mandate.”
Thanks for reading. We hope you find the Coronavirus Brief newsletter to be a helpful tool to navigate this very complex situation, and welcome feedback at coronavirus.brief@time.com. If you have specific questions you'd like us to answer, please send them to covidquestions@time.com.
If you were forwarded this and want to sign up to receive it daily, click here.
Today's newsletter was written by Jeffrey Kluger and edited by Mandy Oaklander.
沒有留言:
張貼留言