by Flora Rhim
Daily Targum (Rutgers U.)
(U-WIRE) NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - This virus is compromising human life, in that it can be fatal to those infected by it. But it seems as though the rest of the population, who isn't suffering from flu-like symptoms and high fever, is infected nonetheless.
For example, the tourism industry is suffering. Taiwan has decided to quarantine foreign visitors, placing them in a room away from Taiwanese residents, who will stay in their own homes. Hong Kong's tours to Taiwan have been cancelled, and the country's President Chen Shui-bian will review a policy to quarantine travelers from Hong Kong. According to Reuters, hospitals in Singapore will not allow visitors in order to prevent SARS from spreading.
We're sheltered; we think that what happens in Asia doesn't make or break our world as college students at a state university. Just words on a newspaper page, pictures of kindergarteners in Hello Kitty masks, is what the disease has been to us up to this point, with an occasional sprinkling of the virus in Canada.
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We constantly hear the terms WHO, or World Health Organization, or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and we think we're safe. But who knows? Someone in one of your classes could be coughing and you won't think anything of it. And then there will be a SARS outbreak in the United States.
Even though it's happening across countries and oceans, it's still our problem because the media has been reporting SARS to a degree that makes people panic. What else are we going to feel when we hear that one single woman is responsible for spreading the disease in Toronto, ultimately passing it to everyone who attended the funeral of someone who died from it?
An international tourist was held in New York for 10 days because he had symptoms of SARS, and there have been 20 reported cases in New York City as of Sunday. Now now, don't excite yourselves. We can't get SARS from someone who breathes it into the air over the Hudson River. There is no need to buy a Powerpuff girls mask, despite what Wal-Mart will introduce as its new summer line.
Businesses in Chinatown in New York City are suffering due to the outbreak of the virus. I find it absolutely ridiculous, but people are afraid to eat in Chinese restaurants and visit Chinatown.
While that's understandable in their viewpoint, based on how the media portrays the disease to us, are we all seriously going to sit locked behind our doors until the news tells us the virus is gone? I'm not saying that the disease isn't a reason to worry, because there have been hundreds of deaths from it so far. But statistically, the deaths of those infected largely stem from the elderly because their immune systems are of course weaker than others - which is the case with any disease, not just SARS. And, old or young, the bottom line is that our world is essentially being halted by the outbreak of this unknown virus.
Several famous cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Disney Line and Princess Cruises have denied passengers from boarding if they had been in Hong Kong or Vietnam 10 days prior to their trip. Not only are tourism and the economy suffering, but people are downright afraid. Many feel confined to their homes for fear that stepping outside will cause them to "catch" it. It's a virus with flu-like symptoms. It's not the bubonic plague.
And if people really are afraid to go into areas that are densely populated with Asians, then I guess everyone will just have to sit in their homes until we get a press conference saying that they've conquered this virus.
You can't get it from going to Chinatown, you get it from someone who's infected with it, whether he or she is Chinese, African-American, Polish, or - yes folks, it is true - American. I hate to break your patriotic bubbles, but the unfortunate truth is that viruses do not discriminate in choosing their victims.
So I guess, if you're going to stay away from Chinatown, you might as well stay away from the outside confines of your own home because you never know who may have it. It could be the kid with the Hello Kitty mask you see coming off of the plane from Hong Kong, or it could be the kid coughing next to you on the bus. It could be me. And yes, once again, an ugly truth: It could be you.
