People feel uncomfortable when others find out they have had the coronavirus. They really should be celebrated, however.
Many of us have been there before. You contract a stomach bug, and you are then holed up for at least twenty-four hours visiting the bathroom regularly. Your body empties itself entirely of the offending pathogen-no detailed description needed here as to how that happens- and within a couple of days you are golden and (almost) as good as new. A week and a half later you have a family gathering. People learn you had the stomach flu. Everyone in the room takes a large physical, or psychological step back. No one really wants to come near you. Even though there is very little chance you are at all still contagious, they are afraid of you. On a small scale, this is social stigma.
The World Health Organization defines social stigma in the context of health as:
“the negative association between a person or group of people who share certain characteristics and a specific disease. In an outbreak, this may mean people are labelled, stereotyped, discriminated against, treated separately, and/or experience loss of status because of a perceived link with a disease.”
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Obviously stigma is something we all want to avoid perpetuating. Its presence is real, however. A report by Global News in Canada tells of how Emily Peck and her boyfriend Justin Alexanderson, both in their twenties, fought off COVID-19, but now find people react to them strangely.
“People start to treat you differently once they know you’ve had it,” Peck said.
“It makes me feel a bit embarrassed and I know I shouldn’t feel that way because there’s thousands of others who are going through this,” she added.
In truth, after some time has passed, people who have had the novel coronavirus and are better are truly no longer contagious. According to Dr. Nick Daneman, a scientist at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, the presence of COVID-19 in someone who has had it goes down so significantly after about two weeks, that your chances of getting it from them are “likely negligible”, Global News reports.
How do we know? We rely on test results and patients’ symptoms. Doctors and scientists test people who are recovering from the novel coronavirus to determine when they are no longer contagious. According to Health Canada, a person who receives two negative COVID-19 tests taken about 24 hours apart can be deemed free of the virus.
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For someone who has a mild case of the coronavirus, officials say they are assumed to be infectious for about ten days after they first develop symptoms. Following this, the person is likely no longer contagious as the virus is present in them in such weak amounts. For those who have been hospitalized, this period may be longer. Once enough tests come back as negative however, the coast is clear.
According to Global News, Peck says people feeling fearful of her makes her feel bad. She feels uncomfortable and ashamed, at times. Contracting the coronavirus is really beyond people’s control, in many ways, however. In reality, we should prize, praise, and congratulate those who have had the virus and who have come out healthy in the end. We can learn from them, and we can celebrate the fact that they are still with us.
It is a good idea to continue to practice social distancing, and to wash your hands frequently with soap, even if you have had the coronavirus. Wear a mask when going out. The evidence is still not conclusive that you cannot contract the coronavirus twice. Stay safe, and remember to practice kindness, as Jacinda Ardern advises.
photo credits: Vitezslav Vylicil/Shutterstock.com
