What Coronavirus Says About This Country

Two weeks ago, I arrived in New York on the Penn Station bus. During my time in the city, while the coronavirus pandemic spread and flourished, I remember seeing only two people wearing masks on the streets of Manhattan. Two. Perhaps they’d all heard of the poor woman who was beaten up for wearing a medical mask in the subway. 

Regardless, however, people still hung out and about at parks, restaurants and Broadway shows. People still shook hands and coughed into crowds. People seemed not to notice the news on the television that blared staggering new numbers of confirmed cases and deaths. People continued to post coronavirus memes like it wasn’t their business.

All the while, toilet paper vanished from the supermarket shelves and Purell prices spiked up to $94 on Amazon.

Why this absurd and stupid mix of fear, denial and inaction?

The answer lies in American exceptionalism.

Back in January, Washington enjoyed the privilege of several weeks’ notice before COVID-19 took hold of its homeland. Unfortunately, the government spent this luxury on criticism of Chinese corruption and censorship. American news sources all had the same story: that of a “draconian” lockdown put in place by an authoritarian government.

Negligence plagued America for a very critical month. President Trump, for his part, chose not to reinstate the White House agency meant to lead the federal preparation and coordination of pandemic outbreaks. He himself had disbanded it in April 2018. 

During news conferences, Trump repeatedly claimed that “everything was under control,” whilst committing to no border control or travel restriction measures. This caused a swarm of imported cases, mostly from Egypt, Italy and various countries in Southeast Asia. In fact, contaminated flights and unsuccessful quarantining directly resulted in the first cases of COVID-19 in all 50 states.

The acceptance of negligent behavior also came from a false analogy. The popular comparison between the seasonal flu and COVID-19, often repeated to downplay this virus in its early phases, was and is highly irresponsible. Experts project the mortality rate of COVID-19 to eventually plateau at 1.8%, almost 20 times that of the seasonal flu. Additionally, coronavirus remains approximately 3 to 4 times more contagious. Finally, the comparison dismisses the possibility of sequelae, or after-effects, from the virus. Research indicates that recovered patients’ respiratory and cardiovascular system will suffer permanent damage in some cases. Further, based on comprehensive data from Chinese cases, some suspect that COVID-19 affects male fertility. So, no. This is not your seasonal flu.

Lastly, although testing kits from the World Health Organization (WHO) promptly arrived in the United States and identified the first confirmed case in the country, poor manufacturing and inefficient governmental approval delayed further testing. This stall in progress directly caused a supply shortage and a sudden overwhelm of hospital patients in local hospitals. 

All of these failures came from a belief that American could not and would not succumb to the virus. But the result has been catastrophic. That’s right—America in March is no different than Wuhan in January. What’s most outrageous: the former has only just now, and quite frantically at that, reacted to what Trump calls the “Chinese virus.” 

We as Exonians live in a diverse and relatively safe environment while at the Academy, but, to be frank, Exeter doesn’t reflect what’s true of America. We remember the thousands who criticized Trump’s tweet as racist and xenophobic. Yes, that’s wonderful. But we mustn’t forget that thousands of others believe in and support this type of hate speech. 

Andrew Surabian, a Republican strategist, fired off a tweet about Trump’s “Chinese Virus” nomenclature: “Sorry, but if you're attacking Trump as "racist" for saying "Chinese Virus," YOU'RE QUITE LITERALLY SPREADING CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY PROPAGANDA. So if you don't like people pointing that out, then simply stop parroting the CCP's BS talking points nonstop. It's not hard guys.” The tweet now has ten thousand likes.

All my life, I’ve struggled with my identity as a Chinese-American. Surprise surprise, not everyone in China is a member of the Chinese Communist Party. Living in China or holding a Chinese passport doesn’t mean one is brainwashed or that any Chinese person is worth any less than an American. It doesn’t mean we don’t have the mind to defend free speech or free will. It certainly doesn’t mean we’re the only ones susceptible to a pandemic. The virus doesn’t care where you’re from.

In fact, if anything, China has contained the virus far more effectively than the US. In January and February, the government advised all families to self-quarantine and enforced the public use medical masks. Approaching March, the government cancelled a myriad of international flights and imposed a two-week quarantine on passengers arriving from high-risk countries, such as the United States. I recently just arrived back in Shanghai, and I can attest to the thoroughness of the procedures.

That being said, keeping people safe is often a less than remarkable process. During the twenty-six hours between when I stepped off the plane and when I arrived at my doorstep, I barely slept, ate or drank any water. The buses did not budge until everyone was clear, the officials appeared testy and unprofessional, and my temporary hotel room didn’t have a bed.

But I understand that. It’s a difficult time for everyone. The officials don’t have to be up 24/7 and potentially risk their lives to check on us and chauffeur us around. And I’d rather go through this than to risk a second outbreak and end up staying home forever.

See, what I care about is action. China’s taking action, minimizing the losses and learning from her mistakes. Taking a virus seriously serves the best for everyone. For the one in the contaminated community, for the one far on the other side of the planet and for the international student who might be worrying his or her guts out. 

But to do this, America has to lose her self-importance. We have to lose our self-importance. While I certainly support keeping an open and skeptical mind, self-quarantine doesn’t mean the government is conspiring to put everyone under public surveillance, nor does it mean that there’s a Big Brother stripping you of your liberties. If anything, it means that the government wants to prioritize your health and well-being.

Democracy and freedom are not antidotes to the coronavirus, or any crisis for that matter. If we look from a less hypocritical lens, we might be able to recognize the value of the approach adopted by “the other.”