INCIDENTS of violence and discrimination against COVID-19 frontliners are, to say the least, very disturbing. They are, basically, acts of selfishness againts selfless individuals.
Nobody wants to be infected by the new coronavirus –that’s a given. Did the people responsible for the violent and discriminatory actions against COVID-19 frontliners really believe that it was “right” to protect themselves (their families and communities) by doing those acts?
Those actions are clearly and undeniably symptoms of ignorance on the part of those responsible.
One does not get infected with the new coronavirus simply by residing in the same building or in the same community where a COVID-19 positive patient lives.
There are self-quarantine protocols, which when strictly followed, can prevent the transmission of the virus. So far, scientists agree that transmission is through contact with persons who carry and things that contain the virus. Protocols to prevent such contact have been provided to us.
The individuals who see the “value” of violence and discrimination highlight their ignorance by directing their actions only to the COVID-19 frontliners (particularly from the medical field) even if individuals who wantonly violate the protocols of Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), i.e. those who refuse to stay at home, are more likely to spread the virus.
This is NOT to say that it is right to have the latter as objects of violence and discrimination. I just want to emphasize the degree of ignorance of those who believe that their violent and discriminatory acts are justified, if not outright correct and necessary.
As most people all over the world herald COVID-19 frontliners, the individuals who see them as threats have no place in our current war against COVID-19. The virus is the enemy and not the frontliners.
We cannot be thanking and saluting the COVID-19 frontliners but doing so on the condition that they should not live or be in the same community that we are in – that will be pure and simple hypocrisy.
As we all live in communities with COVID-19 frontliners (medical professionals, government workers, and volunteers for various social interventions), the best way to thank and praise them is to strictly follow ECQ protocols like physical distancing, personal hygiene, and stay-at-home prescription.
Not following the ECQ protocols is a masked violence against not only the COVID-19 frontliners but also the other members of our communities including our families.
