This site requires Javascript to be turned on. Please enable Javascript and reload the page.

COVID-19 Pandemic Perspectives India (Tushya Mehta) The perspective that this page is exploring is the perspective of the largest democracy of the world- India. It is also the second-most populous country in the world and so understanding how the nation is dealing with this crisis is crucial. The country is another giant like China where things could go very wrong and according to WHO may direct the future of this pandemic. I am exploring what the citizens are feeling and how they are responding to the pandemic. I have studied the Prime Minister’s speech on the nationwide lockdown to understand the action being taken., I used media/journalistic sources from TIME and NewYorker to see how the governments decisions are impacting the people. Using previous Public health studies I tried to understand why the decisions being taker are necessary and how prepared India actually is?

Pet owners in China (Jennie Soule)

Fact Checked Source:

Charlie Campbell, 'They Are Overwhelmed.' China's Animal Shelters Can't Cope With the Number of Pets Abandoned Due to COVID-19:

On March 2, 2020 Charlie Campbell in a Times News article spoke about how animal shelters and pet owners are struggling with COVID-19. (linked here)

Five Facts Checked- an insight into credibility:

In order to better understand this article and give an insight into its credibility I have examined 5 facts below:

“Similar cases were reported during the 2003 SARS outbreak, which was also zoonotic, passing to humans from a civet cat.”

I wanted to look into this claim as I was curious about whether history was repeating itself or not. In an article published in Baltimore Sun on May 6, 2003 they described similar events happening during the SARS outbreak as there are now with the COVID-19 outbreak. In China during the SARS outbreak, people in China became fearful of their household pets. This fear causes people to do drastic things to their pets, proving this claim true.

“Fears about animals have not been helped by the fact that the pet dog of an COVID-19 patient in Hong Kong tested “weakly positive” for the virus.”

I wanted to check this claim because when this article was published I had not heard of any animals yet being infected with COVID-19. But according to the Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Department of Hong Kong on February 28, 2020 a dog was reported to have tested a weak positive for the coronavirus.

“But there’s zero evidence that domestic animals aid its spread.”

This claim has brought much debate among people across the globe. Causing many people in China to take extreme measures to protect themselves against their pets. According to the World Health Organization pets can get COVID-19 and spread it among other animals. But according to current research evidence has not presented itself that animals can not spread the virus to humans.

“...which has so far sickened 90,000 and killed 3,100 across the globe.”

I wanted to look into this claim as this is a very large number for a relatively new virus. The numbers have progressed since this article was published nearly two months ago, but according to John Hopkins University it is very possible 90,000 people had been infected on March 2. As of April 25 over 2 million people have been infected over the globe as the virus continues to spread daily.

"The confusion has led to both cruel abandonment of animals and acts of heroism to save suffering pets from neglect and government culls."

I wanted to look into this drastic claim as for many people it would be very hard to abandon animals as they are members of the family to most people. In a CNN article written by Allen Kim it confirms that this has in-fact been happening in China. Stating that any animal wandering in public some regions of China would be exterminated. It also states many animals have already been abandoned due to fear, thus affirming the above claim.

Analytic Essay:

Misinformation causing Devastation: Pet owners in China losing their pets due to the spread of misinformation

One interesting perspective is that of a pet owner, specifically in China, during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the virus causing a lot of fear of animals in the region where the virus is said to originate, pets and their owners are suffering. Pet owners have had to differentiate false media more than anyone else. As there are many rumors that pets can spread the coronavirus to humans. As a pet owner myself, when I saw a Facebook article pop up saying that people had gone as far as put down their pet due to that rumor, I was mortified. Because pet owners love their pets immensely, it would be devastating to their mental wellbeing to have their pets ripped away from them due to a global pandemic.

Many news articles have been written about how in China there have been many different opinions about whether or not pets can get the virus. Since the virus started in China’s wet markets, where animals are sold for meat in unsanitary conditions, many people wondered if our pets could also get the coronavirus and pass it on. This rumor was especially popular when “a leading doctor on China Central Television” encouraged people to start throwing their pets off their balconies. (Campbell, 2020) Deciphering whether or not facts about the coronavirus has been difficult for many people. There are now whole websites dedicated to listing all the sites that provide fake facts about the coronavirus. Showing us that many people, not only pet owners, are struggling to know which facts are true and which are false.

The World Health Organization is one of the leading organizations in providing trustworthy facts. They state that “further evidence is needed to understand if animals and pets can spread the disease.” (WHO, 2020) They further that statement by saying that right now human to human interaction is the biggest contributor to the spread of the virus. They are aware that there have been certain animals that have contracted the disease. One particular case in Hong Kong was of a dog that “tested weak positive to COVID-19 virus. The dog does not have any relevant symptoms.” (Almendros, 2020) Dogs, in particular, are testing positive for the disease yet never show any symptoms. Whereas if cats test positive, they show some symptoms. But there has been no evidence of cat to human infection of the virus. Only pet owners can understand the bond between a pet and its owner. These pets spend more time with them than many people. Often following them into the bathroom or sharing food with them. The coronavirus has caused added stress in relationships between pets and their owners, which would have been avoided without the leak of misinformation.

Pet owners in China are not only stressed about the raging pandemic virus but now they also have to be concerned about their pets' welfare. In some regions Chinese authorities have been given the right to take away any pets from their owners and kill them. This order has been sent to slow the spread of the virus.

In Wuhan where the virus originated if a person is “found to have COVID-19 then the authorities kill all animals in the home as a precaution.” (Campbell, 2020)

This order has been causing many people’s fears of catching the virus even worse. As one person from Beijing said, "I'm worried about my dog being hated by the neighborhood." (Kim, 2020) As now they are not only afraid that they will get the virus, but also that their animals will be taken away.

In one research article, they studied the impacts of losing a pet during a hurricane. In this study, they found that a person who suffered from “pet loss [during a hurricane] was associated with depression, acute stress, and post-traumatic stress.”(Lowe, 2009) The impacts of a hurricane and the current pandemic would be very similar in context. Both of them being hugely destructive and life-changing. Many people that are just struggling to survive during this pandemic would be more vulnerable to the loss of their pets. This could cause a person to develop a mental health disorder, and if serious enough could send them to the hospital. In times of a serious pandemic in which all medical personnel are very important sending a person unnecessarily to the hospital is disastrous. This raises the importance of not spreading misinformation during a global crisis. As some false information could send someone to the hospital.

Overall, this perspective adds a devastating view of what the coronavirus has caused. Many people who are struggling to feed their families and get better after becoming sick with the coronavirus are also overwhelmed with sadness over the loss of their pet. Whether they lost their pet because they had to give it up because of financial difficulties or because it was taken away by the government. Both are heart-wrenching and no one should have to go through the loss of a pet due to the coronavirus. The loss of these pets will bring many pet owners in China together to grieve the loss of their pets or fight for the life of the pets they still have. Hopefully, this will make pet owners around the world warier of what they hear on the news. More people need to hear how misinformation can not only cause animals to die and be ripped away from their family unjustly but also cause people to develop a mental illness that could affect the rest of their lives.

References:

Almendros, A. (2020). Can companion animals become infected with Covid-19? Veterinary Record, 186(12).BMJ Journals https://veterinaryrecord-bmj-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/content/186/12/388.2

This is written by a veterinarian in the University of Hong Kong Veterinary Medical Center with first hand experience on the animals that have tested positive for COVID-19. The article mainly uses logos as a form of persuasion as he is the veterinarian who has had first hand experience with the animals that test positive for COVID-19. This is a credible source that talks about the infected animals currently in China. The main thesis of this source is that currently animals who are testing positive for the coronavirus are not contagious nor are their bodies providing an immune response to the virus.

Campbell, C. (2020, March 2). China's Coronavirus Lockdown Sees Surge in Abandoned Pets. TIMES World News, Retrieved from https://time.com/5793363/china-coronavirus-covid19-abandoned-pets-wuhan/

The article posted by Allen Kim on March 15, 2020 on CNN news’ website is about pets being abandoned due to the coronavirus outbreak. In this article it shows the perspective of rescues and pet owners during this time of crisis. Rescues are over flooded with pets, and pet owners are fearing for their animals' lives. Many people have abandoned their pets due to the virus, and the rescues are trying to help as many as they can.

COVID-19 Dashboard (2020). John Hopkins University, Retrieved from https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

Used as a fact checking tool.

Epstein, G. A. (2019, March 30). Amid SARS epidemic, China panics over pets. Baltimore Sun, Retrieved from https://www.baltimoresun.com/bal-te.china06may06-story.html

Used as a fact checking tool.

Kim, A. (2020, March 15). Cats and dogs abandoned at the start of the coronavirus outbreak are now starving or being killed. CNN, Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/15/asia/coronavirus-animals-pets-trnd/index.html

Lowe, S. R., Rhodes, J. E., Zwiebach, L., & Chan, C. S. (2009). The impact of pet loss on the perceived social support and psychological distress of hurricane survivors. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 22(3), 244–247. https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/jts.20403

This is written by the department of Psychology in University of Massachusetts. This source uses logos as a form of persuasion having interviewed 365 different women about the impact of losing their pet during a hurricane. This article gives the results of those interviews.The main thesis of this source is that people who lose pets during a traumatic event are more likely to develop depression, anxiety, and post traumatic stress.People who lose pets during a hurricane are more likely to develop a mental illness and/or elevated psychological distress in the aftermath of the the hurricane.Because both hurricanes and pandemics are very emotionally taxing events, and both can be very destructive in their own ways. So this provides great insight into how people may be feeling after losing their pets during this pandemic.

Press Release. (n.d.).Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Retrieved from https://www.afcd.gov.hk/english/publications/publications_press/pr2335.html

It starts to show the perspective of the government of China and why people are becoming fearful if they are hearing this information. The press release warns that pet owners should take caution if their pet has been exposed to COVID-19, and that those pets should be put under quarantine by their department. One dog had tested a weak positive for COVID 19 as of February 28. I think it shows why people are afraid to keep their pets. As many people in China have been exposed to COVID-19 which also means many of their dogs have also been exposed.

Q&A on coronaviruses (COVID-19). (2020) World Health Organization. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses

Used as fact checking tool.