The article points out the COVID-19 outbreak as a complex\nsystem, and the shortcomings of the administration\u2019s efforts towards addressing\nand alleviating the situation due to a-systemic thinking. It talks about their\ninability to anticipate second and third-order effects of actions that create\nunwanted or even catastrophic ripples in the system. The article places an\nemphasis on government directives as a response to the situation, and only\ntowards its end briefly mentions the significance of impact at the individual\nlevel. No more does it address the socio-cultural forces at large, which\ndetermine social behaviour and indirectly the effectiveness with which the\nvirus spreads. This is crucial because the situation at the national level is\nbased on the spreading which takes place at the individual level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The article discusses the case of Hongkong, where despite an\n\u2018unresponsive government\u2019, \u2018great popular pressure and people\u2019s own actions \u2013\nimmediate adoption of social distancing in January, universal mask-wearing,\ncalling for closures and cancellations even when the government dragged its\nfeet\u2019 – have kept its number of cases low and under control by adequate\nhealthcare response. Such individual behaviour is beyond government directives;\nit is in the country\u2019s culture and history. For Hongkong, memories of the recent\nand devastating SARS virus prompt greater urgency when it comes to measures of\nprecaution. The people become more paranoid, but that gets them to be more\ncareful, which makes it harder for the virus to spread. Just a few days ago,\nTimes published an article \u2013 \u2018Why Wearing a Face Mask Is Encouraged in Asia,\nbut Shunned in the U.S.\u2019 While the question of whether masks are effective and\nshould be worn by the general public is not my focus, such a headline\nexemplifies the different situations in which the pandemic occurs, culturally\nand socially.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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