The COVID-19 outbreak has highlighted some of key cultural differences between the East and West as each civilization’s many states struggle in their own ways to contain the virus. China and South Korea, despite being some among the worst hit by the global pandemic, have managed comparatively better than Western […]
Tag: Corona Virus
India Revisits SAARC To Fight COVID-19. Scepticism Is In Order
The teleconference today at 5 pm IST between the leaderships of the SAARC countries is a rare event in regional cooperation. After an interlude of nearly six years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is once again networking with India’s neighbours in a SAARC setting. He had sprung a surprise in May […]
For Heaven’s Sake Sanitise! Coronavirus As A Way Of Life
“Anything we say in advance of a pandemic happening is alarmist; anything we say afterwards is inadequate.” Michael Leavitt, US Health and Human Services Secretary, March 30, 2006 A crew of gathered customers were busying themselves this Friday evening at the BWS (Beer, Wine and Spirits for the uninitiated) along […]
This Is How America And Britain Are Maximising Coronavirus Deaths
Bunkering down and preparing for the coronavirus is just the beginning. The coronavirus is not just a blip in the matrix. It’s a symptom of an entire system coming up against planetary boundaries. The coronavirus has erupted as a result of fossil-fuelled global industrial expansion, driving and driven by endless economic growth for its own sake.
Coronavirus And Pandemic Pantries
Fears of imminent apocalypse tend to be midwives to absurdity. The stockpiling fever that has gripped various populaces in response to the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has taken various forms. “Pandemic pantries” are becoming the norm, suggesting that hoarding in the crisis tends to be a precursor to petty crime. […]
The Viral Blame Game: Xenophobia, Attribution And Coronavirus
Moralising the way diseases and viruses are transferred is a very human, and particularly nasty trait. “We don’t need this kind of riff-raff on our shores,” screamed The New York Times in 1892 in response to Russian Jewish immigrants arriving at Ellis Island by boat. (The occupants hosted lice which, […]
Fashion Fetishism, Surgical Masks And Coronavirus
Entering Singapore’s Changi Airport gives the visitor a glimpse of a mask fetish. Security guards wear it. As do the nurses and the various personnel who man cameras like anti-aircraft batteries, noting the approaching passenger in transit with due suspicion. The passenger, in turn, wishes to avoid showing anything that […]
Сhina And The Coronavirus Problem
Authoritarian responses, with the gloved heavy hand, will always find its admirers. The reaction by Chinese authorities to the novel coronavirus (now named COVID-19) outbreak has been receiving its fair share of gushing praise from some medical circles. No country builds hospitals as quickly as they do; or seal off […]
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