Could better science communication have stopped the second-wave death bomb
We stand in a storm. We all were somewhat aware that it would come, but we did not feel like accepting it. After all, life had just begun to get back to normal in late 2020, and any negativity surrounding the second wave of COVID-19 would be despised by our minds. But the virus doesn’t care about whether we like to think about it or not, if we do not, it’s even better for it. But have we become so averse to fear, discomfort and negativity that we simply choose to ignore the problem at hand and let it spiral into a cause of a million deaths? Or is there any other reason? What is it about human behavior that we fail to address that led to this shockingly steep surge?
A question we must ask ourselves is the level of fear that would need to be instilled before people start to take protective and corrective actions? How much fear does one have to suffer to take actions to protect themselves that the lives of those that are close to them? For the last week, the media has been displaying rings of fire ranging throughout the country as thousands of COVID-19 afflicted souls depart us in grief and sorrow. Despite that, the public seems to prioritize going out in the public spaces to vote for their favorite leaders, to trip and dip around the Holy Ganges. This comes after expert predictions that active cases of the virus might spike to 1 million cases a day in the coming May.
As a student of behavioral and brain sciences, this situation leaves me aghast, disappointed, and flabbergasted. It makes me question, “what is human behavior indeed motivated by”? I have always naively believed that we act in ways that ensure the survival of our species, but the current story tells a different picture altogether. Are people really not that concerned about their survival anymore, or is it just a small subsection of people that are motivated to use maladaptive forms of stress-coping that leads them to discount the gravity of the situation. A psychological investigation into the mental state of those who still continue to engage in high-risk behaviors despite the nationwide consequences of similar actions is an extremely urgent need. This is because it’s not about the life of one individual anymore, their behavioral choices have the potential to affect (literally, kill) a million others.
In the current situation, ignorance seems to stem not only from dysfunctional coping patterns but also from a lack of understanding about the situation itself. Public health campaigns should focus on not just providing medical aid, but also educate people more about the nature of diseases. how they are different from one another, and why people are asked to follow the guidelines that they do. A false sense of victory perpetuated the entire social atmosphere, defying the biology of how the virus transmits and mutates. People need to know that even in a small number of people, the presence of a virus is not a green signal to declare our victory. It is only a sign that we have to keep with the safety protocols to bring the risk down to zero. The longer the virus lingers, letting our guard down would simply give it the opportunity to transmit itself to more and more people like before, giving it the opportunity to mutate and evolve. Similar education regarding vaccine effectiveness and efficacy must be provided with more diligence so that people do not commit the same mistake of becoming lax and complacent in times when we need extremely cautious behaviors on the part of our people.
