[imagesource: here]

One of the things that set the coronavirus pandemic apart from past pandemics, like the Spanish Flu, is worldwide access to social media.

Before COVID-19 took hold across the globe, we were already battling ‘health influencers’, fake news, and people who think that vaccines turn children into lizard people, or whatever the argument was – it’s all nonsense at the end of the day.

America’s handling of the situation has been sub-par compared to many other countries, like South Africa, in managing the spread of the virus.

Churchgoers have continued to congregate, mass anti-lockdown protests have sprung up countrywide, and then there’s Trump.

Yes, Donald Trump, the president of the United States, who suggested that injecting disinfectant could kill the virus. 

With all of this in mind, it should come as no surprise that some Americans are now hosting coronavirus parties to infect each other.

I’ll let The Guardian take it from here:

Health officials in Walla Walla, Washington, are admonishing the sudden rise in so-called “Covid-19 parties” where non-infected guests mingle with those who have tested positive for the virus, ostensibly in hopes of speeding up the process of catching, and overcoming, the virus.

A number of COVID-19 cases have sprung up over the past week, and many of the infected have been linked back to these “parties”.

“We don’t know when it is happening. It’s after the fact that we hear from cases. We ask about contacts, and there are 25 people because: ‘We were at a Covid party’.” [Meghan DeBolt, director of the county’s Department of Community Health] added: “It’s unacceptable. It’s irresponsible.”

The idea isn’t original. Anti-vaxxers have been known to take their kids to ‘pox parties’ to expose them to other kids with the chickenpox.

DeBolt says the inherent risk of intentionally exposing anyone to infection is compounded with Covid-19, in part because scientists don’t fully understand whether someone can be reinfected by the virus.

Either way, said DeBolt, those who chose to attend parties are jeopardizing public health.

This behaviour sets us back, extends lockdowns, and impacts economies that can’t reopen as cases of infection rise.

This is not, and never has been, the time to experiment with a potentially deadly disease.

[source:guardian]