My Disdain for Small Town Community Reactions to the Coronapocalypse

One of things that really grind my gears when it comes to growing up in a small town is that people have a tendency to react to information with reckless abandon instead of logically assessing the situation first. This has happened a lot in my community ever since I was a little boy, and this Coronapocalypse is no exception.

Let’s get this out of the way: we all should be concerned about COVID-19 since there is still no vaccine/cure for this disease. That is why we should still strictly adhere to all the basic guidelines to avoid getting infected by the coronavirus (which I will reiterate later).

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s go back to the issue at hand. Every time a new case of COVID-19 infection pops up in our town, the community goes into a frenzy of panic and gossip-mongering. “Si bata ni ano to kuno ho, na COVID-19!!!” (“Random neighbor’s child is infected with COVID-19!!!”) We all know where this story goes, gossip never ends well.

Again, one should always be mindful and concerned whenever cases rise in a certain location. Mindfulness is not equal to fear-and-gossip-mongering. Honestly, this is common sense, but you know how we humans are. Anyway, I just wish people would, like in literally everything else, assess things with logic and reason first before spreading information, regardless if it’s true or not. (Also, please do not spread misinformation, I beg of you.)

I’ve been thinking, does it really matter if your neighbor is infected with COVID-19? To a certain degree, yes it does. It allows you to plot a course of action (i.e. not go to their house to make idle chitchat). It, however, shouldn’t change your approach when dealing with the disease. Regardless of having an infected person in your vicinity or not, it doesn’t change the fact that we should:

1. wash hands as often as we can (and practice good hygiene in general);
2. wear a mask (and face-shield, since it apparently is a requirement now) whenever we leave the premises of our place of residence;
3. avoid going out of our place of residence if not absolutely necessary;
4. disinfecting objects from the outside world that we take in our homes (groceries, deliveries, etc.)

Look, we are in the midst of a pandemic and, to be blunt, an infection in/near our community is, like Thanos, inevitable. The least we could do is to help curb the spread of the disease by practicing the basic guidelines mentioned above. Really, it isn’t that hard.

Getting all panic-y and gossiping about who might be infected isn’t going to do anyone good, so why do it? It’s a waste of your physical and mental resources (which, I assume, are running low after five months of quarantine).

Stop spreading the virus AND gossip/misinformation, for the love of all things good.