Time of covidiots: why people do not believe in COVID-19 and why it is dangerous

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Conspiracy theories versus common sense.

Who are covidiots

In 2020, the word covidiot appeared in the Urban Dictionary. It is derived from COVID-19 (the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus) and idiot (idiot). Two categories of people are called covidiots:

• Those who build the bunker and stuff it under the lid with toilet paper and canned food. At the same time, they do not care whether food remains for neighbors. The main thing is that they will be able to survive on stocks until 2134.
• Those who deny the existence of the coronavirus or its danger.

Let's talk about the latter. In Russia, they are also known as coronavirus dissidents. This group of people was named by analogy with HIV dissidents - those who deny the existence of the human immunodeficiency virus. Only in the case of the coronavirus can the consequences be even more dire. But more on that later.

What do covidiots think of the virus

Like any heterogeneous group of people, dissidents do not have one single point of view on COVID-19. Here are the most common options.

Coronavirus is fiction, and panic is artificially inflated

More often than not, covidiots from this group are not just sure that the virus does not exist. They know exactly who would benefit from declaring a pandemic. The readings may change from day to day. While the restrictions were in effect only in China, it was believed that the coronavirus was intended to destroy the economy of this country and withdraw it from the race for world domination. Then other theories came into play:

• The virus was invented by the authorities to put people at home and better control them.
• The pandemic was personally arranged by the President of Russia in order to fight unauthorized rallies ahead of the referendum on amendments to the constitution.
• The coronavirus story was launched by vaccine manufacturers who want to get rich from being vaccinated against a new disease.
• The world government decided to create conditions for people to become poorer, and the oligarchy to rise against their background.
• Trump is to blame for everything.

In general, there are many versions, but one thing unites them: the coronavirus supposedly does not exist. All data on its infectivity is falsification. Media representatives are vile, corrupt liars. And those who believe them are just fools who are scared and stay at home. It is not entirely clear how more than 100 thousand dead are assembled into this story. They are likely hired actors who did too well for the role.

Coronavirus is there, but it is not so scary

They like to compare COVID-19 with the flu: both are contagious, the symptoms are similar, and they also die from complications after SARS. But seasonal flu epidemics don't scare anyone, do they? The population of entire countries is not forced to stay at home, the economy is not threatened. This means that now everyone is simply making an elephant out of a fly, because they are stupid or someone needs it.

Of course, there is deceit here. For all its similarity to influenza, COVID-19 is much more dangerous, and here's why.

• Longer incubation period: up to 14 days instead of four. The patient has no symptoms yet, but he is already becoming a source of infection. In 14 days, the virus can be transmitted to a much larger number of people. Now this ratio is about 1, 3 people with influenza versus 2–2, 5 with coronavirus.
• The need for hospitalization. With flu, 2% of cases are hospitalized, with COVID-19 - 19%.
• Mortality. With flu, less than 0.1% of cases die, with coronavirus - up to 3.4%.
• Vaccination. There is no vaccine against coronavirus, but strains of influenza can be protected.
• Collective immunity. The new coronavirus is not yet familiar to human organisms, and they do not always respond to it with the correct protection.

According to the WHO, 3.5-5 million fall ill with all types of influenza per year. More than 2 million people have already been infected with COVID-19. At the same time, the virus began to spread widely around the world in February.

However, dissidents are not limited to the flu. They compare the coronavirus to other highly infectious diseases, such as measles. Indeed, many people still die from measles. For example, in 2017, 110 thousand people died from her, mostly children. But the spread of this disease is well blocked by vaccination. Outbreaks occurred where vaccinations were not given. Now is the time to say hello to the brothers of the coronavirus dissidents - the anti-vaccine.

Alternative medicine will reliably protect against the virus

The virus, according to these dissidents, is. But there is no need to listen to the advice of doctors: what can they understand? Moreover, there is an alternative - the most correct - medicine. You will definitely not get the coronavirus if you eat garlic, carry ginger with you, or eat hawthorn tincture with lemon. Do this, and you can safely walk the streets, you are invulnerable.

It seems easy to guess what is wrong here. The best actor, comedian and musician Tim Minchin spoke on this matter.

Alternative medicine is one that either has not been proven to work, or it has been proven that it does not work. Do you know the name of alternative medicine that has been proven to work? Medicine.

Tim Minchin actor, comedian, musician

COVID-19 patients do not die of coronavirus

Indeed, most of the victims had comorbidities. Someone suffered from diabetes or asthma, some did not have some organs. They, as well as the elderly, are at risk precisely because the body is already weakened and is less able to cope with additional infections.

The fact that the coronavirus has nothing to do with it is pure speculation. So we can say that people do not die from falling from a height. They die from rupture of organs, multiple fractures and painful shock. And firearms are completely safe, because they die from bleeding and damage.

It is useless to protect yourself from the virus, you will get sick anyway

Nobody argues with this. Sooner or later, you are likely to get really sick. Restrictive measures are introduced so that this happens late, not early. And here's why:

• The virus is new, so doctors are not entirely sure how to effectively deal with the complications it causes. Treatment protocols are regularly updated. Doctors are looking for combinations of drugs that can help reduce mortality. The later you get sick, the better your treatment will be.
• The number of hospitals, ventilators and doctors is not infinite. Therefore, the fewer patients who need them at a time, the better.
• Scientists around the world are working on a vaccine. If you are lucky, you will wait for it without catching the disease.

Why people think there is no coronavirus

There are several reasons at once.

This is the stage of accepting the inevitable

Typically, a person with a serious loss goes through five stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. This is how the psyche adapts to the new situation. The pandemic can definitely be considered a loss - at least the familiar world. And denial is a powerful defense mechanism: the coronavirus does not exist, which means that soon everything will be the same.

This is an attempt to delay action

If you admit that the problem exists, this will lead to the need for different solutions and actions. For example, it will become apparent that the economy is under threat. This means that it will be necessary to increase the financial safety cushion and find alternatives in case of job loss. All this is unpleasant and painful. It is much more convenient to pretend that nothing is happening.

This distrust

The ratings of confidence in the Russian authorities have grown amid the pandemic. Nevertheless, many are suspicious of everything that sounds from official sources. The coronavirus is no exception. Especially against the background of self-isolation, incomprehensible in its status, instead of quarantine and tracking the movements of citizens without an emergency regime.

This is an attempt to dignify yourself against the background of others

While the whole world is going crazy, the dissident feels himself the chosen one. After all, he touched the mystery and figured out how things really are. It remains only to wait for the others to open their eyes and they realize its greatness.

Why coronavirus dissidence is dangerous

Whatever a particular covidiot believes, one thing is important: he does not comply with the recommendations and restrictions that should stop the spread of the virus. The more such people, the more infected. As mentioned above, 20% of cases require hospitalization. But 20% of a thousand people and 100 thousand are very different numbers. As a result, there is a significant increase in the risk that someone will not have enough ventilator, and someone simply will not have time to come to someone at a critical moment.

Ignoring requests and demands leads to the fact that the authorities are tightening the screws. For example, yesterday 100 people went for a walk, and today no one can move further than 100 meters from their home (this is an exaggerated statement - look for the rules of conduct for your city in the regional normative act).

It's even worse when dissidence seeps into power. In March, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited coronavirus patients without protective equipment and offered fellow citizens to get sick in order to obtain herd immunity. After a while, he contracted the coronavirus and ended up in intensive care. And after the cure, he called on the British to self-isolate. If he had not been prime minister, it would have been just another story of dissidence. However, perhaps, if not for his position, quarantine in the UK would have been introduced earlier and the number of victims would have been less.

This is the time to remember where it all began - HIV dissidents. For them, everything happens according to the same scheme, and the consequences can already be seen. If you turn a blind eye to the problem, it will end in death. In Tyumen, a two-year-old girl died due to lack of therapy. Her parents did not believe in HIV. In St. Petersburg, a four-year-old child died under similar circumstances. These cases became known because irresponsible parents were tried. Unfortunately, there are no statistics on the mortality of HIV dissidents themselves, as well as data on the number of people they infected.

It is incorrect to compare SARS ‑ CoV ‑ 2 with HIV: viruses are too different. But HIV dissidents and covidiots are very much even. Both are experimenting with the people around them, and the consequences can be sad.

Coronavirus. Number of infected:

243 050 862

in the world

8 131 164

in Russia View map