pandemic 2

PANDEMIC!
conference in order to downplay the coronavirus spread
and to assert that mass quarantines are not necessary, he
made a short statement admitting that he has contracted
the coronavirus and placed himself in isolation (even during
his TV appearance, he had displayed signs of fever and
weakness). Harirchi added: “This virus is democratic, and
it doesn’t distinguish between poor and rich or between
the statesman and an ordinary citizen.” 1 In this, he was
deeply right—we are all in the same boat. It is difficult to
miss the supreme irony of the fact that what has brought
us all together and promoted global solidarity expresses
itself at the level of everyday life in strict commands to
avoid close contacts with others, even to self-isolate.
And we are not dealing only with viral threats—other
catastrophes are looming on the horizon or already taking
place: droughts, heatwaves, killer storms, the list is
long. In all these cases, the answer is not panic but the
hard and urgent work to establish some kind of efficient
global coordination.
The first illusion to get rid of is the one floated by
Donald Trump during his recent visit to India: that the
epidemic will recede quickly, we just have to wait for it to
1. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/25/
irans-deputy-health-minister-i-have-coronavirus.
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