With the WHO now acknowledging emerging evidence that the coronavirus disease could be airborne, many Indians have started to feel anxiety and even panic.
Just like Chandler Bing – the famous funny character from the American TV series ‘FRIENDS’, Indians are using “humour as a defence mechanism” to cope up with the scary news.
From calling it a “modern day horror story” to criticising China’s “exotic meat eating habits”, Indians are failing to keep calm. #Airborne is trending on Twitter in India, with thousands of mentions and memes.
On a serious note however, netizens are upset with the WHO for initially claiming that COVID-19 was not spreading via air.
Earlier, international scientists had urged WHO to update their guidelines on the spread of COVID-19. In a recent press conference, Dr. Maria Van Kerkove, technical lead on the COVID-19 pandemic at the WHO, shared that they have been looking into the possibility of airborne transmission of the novel pandemic.
The news comes just two days after China noted suspected cases of yet another disease: Bubonic Plague. Two brothers from the Khovd province in western Mongolia became suspected the possibility the Bubonic Plague possibility after they consumed Marmot meat.
Also referred to as the “Black Death”, Bubonic Plague is a bacterial disease that causes the lymph nodes to become inflamed, tense and painful, swelling to almost the size of a chicken's egg. It spreads via fleas that live on wild rodents such as marmots, and can kill an adult in fewer than 24 hours if not treated in time, according to the WHO.
Over the weekend, China sounded an alert after a suspected Bubonic Plague case was reported in Bayan Nur -- its northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.