COVID-19 across Cultures
There is a tense mood around the world as the coronavirus pandemic continues to take more lives every day, yet there is no known cure to combat it. The United States is the most affected country in the world according to the world COVID-19 Daily Updates with more than 1.5 million total cases and a death toll above 94,000 more than a quarter of the total death around the world.4 The country’s high number of cases and a death toll of more than 1,500 people every day is unexplainable considering that the country has some of the best medical facilities in the world.
From the current American statistics, it is clear that some groups in the society are affected more by the virus than others. According to Jernigan, the aged, and the African American communities, two groups of people have come out distinctively as the worst hit.3 The old people are facing challenges because of their age. It can argue their body’s immunity has deteriorated, and therefore it is difficult for them to fight the virus. This has been noted by the medical staff operating in different health facilities who pointed out that the ventilators in hospitals have little effect when used on old people because most of them die despite the great efforts by physicians. On the other hand, young people respond positively to ventilators’ use, and most of them recover from the virus. For this reason, the aged people are more vulnerable to the virus than any other age group.
The other affected group is the African American community. This group of people has been historically disadvantaged in many areas. First, most of them are found in the lower social class, where they have to work every day for their survival. This makes the preventive measures such as the ‘stay-at-home’ strategy inapplicable since if they stay at home, they will die of hunger. Their situation is further fueled by the spirit of capitalism, as depicted by Weber.2 America being a capitalist nation; most of the low-level employees are paid minimal salaries making it difficult for them to afford necessities such as health insurance coverage. When they contract the virus, it becomes difficult for them to access quality services, and most of them just wait for their fates since they cannot afford to pay medical bills. Another reason can be seen from the perspective of modernization of slavery as depicted by Rubenstein in his article, “The Cunning of History”.1 The African American hold some of the basic jobs which cannot allow the social distancing because they involve interacting with other people in the community. Some of these jobs include bus drivers, grocery store workers, social workers like in the homes of the aged, and many other tasks that require direct interactions. These kinds of jobs make it difficult for them to apply the preventive measure, and thus they have been affected more by the virus in both the rate of confirmed cases and death rate.
Therefore, it is clear that the aged and the African American community are the most affected in American society due to the vulnerability of their circumstances. However, the case of the old people is a result of a natural phenomenon, while the case of African Americans is a result of social injustices in society. The pandemic has exposed some differences in the social structure, which should be mended after the pandemic to prevent any future disparities.
References
- Rubenstein, Richard L. The Cunning of History: The Holocaust and the American Future. [Intron. By William Styron]. Harper & Row, 1978.
- Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. George Allen & Unwin, 1930.
- Jernigan, Daniel B. “Update: public health response to the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak—United States, April 24, 2020.” Morbidity and mortality69 (2020).
- Covid-19 Coronavirus Pandemic Daily Updates. Retrieved from: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/