There has been a rise in a new culture where society stigmatizes people who catch covid as irresponsible and harmful to society even when they did nothing wrong.

This phenomenon, called covid-shaming, is caused by the feeling of uncertainty and helplessness that covid-19 brings and can have severe impacts on the victim. 

In the earlier period when most of the Covid patients were from Wuhan, China was blamed for the virus and was even accused of creating the virus on purpose but with no evidence suggesting that the virus was lab-made.

This unfounded accusation and suspicion took on a more hostile and racist facet as the virus prolonged and killed many loved ones.

A recent example of this is a hostile and violent text sent by a student at Occidental college that stated that “all Asian students should die”.

These examples show how people tend to blame covid-19 on a particular group of people. They do so to feel like they have some sort of control over an uncertain and frightening circumstance in which they feel helpless.

Various psychological studies have shown that people tend to point fingers when they feel helpless.

According to a study done by Miro Jakovljevic, Ivan Jakovljevic, Sarah Bjedov and Filip Mustac from the Department of Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine, “when confronted by difficult situations or problems they cannot solve, many people, consciously or unconsciously, tend to find someone to blame, stigmatize or demonize.”

When one blames a group of people for covid-19, it makes them feel like it is someone’s fault, and hence the disease can be controlled as long as everyone makes good decisions.

This simple tendency to blame has evolved into the blame game, “the default method to shift responsibility to or to put guilt on or demonize somebody to have caused the problem.”

Therefore, people covid-shame those who catch covid for being careless, reiterating the belief that they can stay safe if they do not do anything wrong and differentiating themselves from others.

Covid-shaming can be seen even within our own community. Whenever someone gets covid, the first reaction that most people have is ‘where did you go?’ or ‘how did you catch it?” hinting that it is their fault that they caught covid.

People tend to socially isolate the individual who caught covid and label him or her as irresponsible. 

Moreover, there is a mandatory tracking system for Covid patients or people who were in contact with Covid patients in South Korea that traces the person’s whereabouts. This thorough and restrictive system makes patients feel like they are criminals who have to wear ankle monitors. 

An interview with a family friend (who preferred to stay anonymous) who recently caught covid revealed the insecurity that they felt after catching covid. Her entire family caught covid after her daughter was infected via a student in the same kindergarten.

Once it was revealed that the origin was the fellow student in the kindergarten, the first reactions of the mothers in the class were to deny that she was the origin, fearing the repercussions she may face as if she was careless and brought the evil disease to the classroom. 

Denial of responsibility may be a natural reaction, after seeing the isolation and criticism that covid carriers receive. 

Covid-shaming often has severe  impacts on the mental health of the victim. Adding on to the stress of catching covid-19, the guilt and shame that one feels create another layer of mental torment.

Many victims have reported that they struggled with excessive guilt as everyone around them blamed them for catching covid, even if they took the proper precautions, such as wearing a mask or getting vaccinated. 

This guilt has been shown to foster extreme stress, anxiety, and a degree of social shame that makes them avoid social interactions.

Guilt is especially more harmful when it is due to  events that they did not have control over or when they cannot repair a past behavior.  For Covid-shaming victims, there is nothing they can do to improve the circumstance. 

However, the truth is that the victims of covid-shaming did not do anything wrong. Many ended up catching the virus even when they abide by safety precautions.

In fact, with the new variant of Omicron, some predict that everyone will eventually catch Covid. “Omicron, with its extraordinary, unprecedented degree of efficiency of transmissibility, will ultimately find just about everybody,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Chief Medical Advisor to the President of the United States. This means that catching the virus does not equate to disregarding the rules. 

Covid-19 has become a significant burden on our society, causing many struggles including financial strife, inactivity, and more.

There are so many challenges that have come with covid that we have had no control over. Yet there is one aspect that we can control; we can stop covid-shaming.

We can refrain from blaming the victim and  reduce the negative impact this disease has brought. And who knows? If you end up catching covid, you will be thankful that no one blames you.

Karen Lee

Grade 9

Chadwick International