The coronavirus blame game

The coronavirus blame game

'Avoid writing about Covid-19," I've been telling myself. We're already bombarded with coverage and it's draining to encounter yet another headline about the villain that's forcing us to accept a new way of life. But there are some points I'd like to make.

Amid the pandemic of the century, human solidarity is being put to test. The outlook is grim; the coronavirus is a malady that divides humanity.

Information about the virus is evolving rapidly. This opens a chasm of uncertainty and confusion, giving way to weaponisation of information. Fear and ignorance are spreading at an alarming rate, threatening the progress we have made.

Every crisis needs a scapegoat, it seems. On the global stage, the US and China are quarrelling over who is to blame, churning out narratives that suit their political ends at the expense of diplomatic relations.

US-China relations have been fragile for some time but were just starting to show signs of mending after a long trade fight. But the Covid crisis now threatens to undermine mutual understanding and trust.

President Donald Trump's "Chinese virus" rhetoric spurred anti-Chinese sentiment in the US and exposed many people of East Asian descent to racism and discrimination.

American politicians are accusing Beijing of trying to hide the scale of the outbreak to save face, as they criticise China's attempts to play magnanimous actor by shipping medical supplies to the rest of the world.

China, for its part, is claiming victory by celebrating the reopening of Wuhan, the city where the virus first emerged.

Chinese state-run news outlets, meanwhile, have been peddling the conspiracy theory that the virus originated among US troops. The Chinese Embassy in Thailand even chimed in on Facebook with the same narrative.

The World Health Organization says evidence suggests the coronavirus originated in bats in China. That hasn't stopped American conspiracy-mongers from claiming one of those bats was in a Wuhan bioweapons lab.

Elsewhere, Taiwan and the head of the WHO have been involved in a high-profile spat, while Mr Trump has halted funding to the UN agency. He claims it was too China-centric in its handling of the virus and mishandled the response, particularly in its opposition to travel restrictions from China.

In Thailand, the situation is no different. It is Government vs The People, sometimes The People vs The People.

One popular strain of public sentiment maintains, "The rich brought it in, the poor suffer" -- meaning well-off Thais brought the virus back from their vacations. The poor, having no money to travel abroad, are suffering the consequences.

Following the mass exodus of Thais to their provincial homes after the government locked down Bangkok (to save money because there were no jobs), better-off Bangkok residents with the means to support themselves during a lockdown blamed the provincials for carrying the virus around the country. Thus began the vicious cycle.

The government's initial handling of the virus was a series of public relations car crashes, with our foot-in-mouth health minister in the driver's seat. Okay, the government messed up -- but now it's time to move on.

I don't know for sure where this will end. But I must say this is not the time for finger-pointing. Governments need to be transparent and proactive while keeping their citizens in the loop.

Until we have a vaccine -- or at least widespread testing -- this unprecedented emergency calls for cooperation from every last one of us. People won't cooperate where trust is lacking. They stop listening to you and turn elsewhere for information.

Thai government should not patronise the public by belittling them or keeping them in the dark. You can't afford to lose the people's trust. You need to communicate every essential piece of information, with a clear strategy and contingency plan to win people's cooperation.

To the Thai public, if you don't want to listen to the politicians, there are non-partisan civil servants who are working around the clock for you, particularly our public health professionals, such as the Department of Disease Control. Despite the ineptitude of the minister in charge, the Ministry of Public Health has been highly effective in dealing with the issue.

I urge the public, even those who distrust or are sceptical of the government, to trust these health professionals, heed their advice.

Once the dust settles, we can take out our "politics as usual" sign and put it back on display. Until then, cooperate.

Patpon Sabpaitoon

News reporter

Bangkok Post news reporter

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