Social inequalities and the impact of coronavirus

By Satyajith Andradi

Racial prejudices, religious bigotry, and nationalistic chauvinism are the three most lethal weapons wielded by the ruling elites to divide and rule the masses throughout the ages. The rulers have used them to set man against man, brother against brother. This, in turn, has led to countless devastating wars, often coupled with horrendous genocide. The Thirty Years War (1618 – 1648 ), which was fought in the name of religion, and the Nazi Holocaust, in which six million Jews perished, are prominent examples. Needless to say, the destructive power of racial prejudices, religious bigotry, and nationalistic chauvinism cannot be overstated. However, the novel Coronavirus – COVID - 19, which is ravaging the world, seems to have total disregard for race, religion and nationality. The fact that it has by now claimed the lives of people belonging to all races, religions, nationalities, living in all continents excluding perhaps the sparsely inhabited Antarctica, prove the point. This prompted some to call the virus a ‘Leveller’.

Corona impact in the rich world

Whilst the Coronavirus does not recognize race, religion, and nationality as such, the socially disadvantaged sections of society – the poor, have been the worst affected by its advent. For instance, it has been found that the Coronavirus induced deaths among Afro – American and Latino communities of the USA have been significantly more than proportionate to that among white Americans. One may be prompted to relate this to race. However, the real reason is socio-economic rather than racial. The fact of the matter is that the Afro – Americans and Latinos are, generally speaking, economically less privileged that their white American counterparts. To begin with, they are very poor. As a result they have less access to nutrition, healthcare, education, and decent housing. Due to poor access to education, they are mostly engaged in low-paying front-line jobs, which do not provide many opportunities for so called social-distancing. Further, due to lack of nutrition and healthcare, they are more than proportionately afflicted by underlying health conditions such as hyper-tension, diabetes and high blood pressure. These factors invariably make them significantly more vulnerable to the deadly virus.

Sickness and death resulting from the Coronavirus constitutes only one key component of the devastating impact of the disease. The other main element is the economic fallout. Once again, the most affected are the poor – the millions of workers who were made jobless in a matter of few weeks due to the closure of businesses and lay-offs. This is true for even the richest and most powerful country in the world – the United States. All of sudden, the unemployed find themselves desperately dependent on unemployment-relief cheques from the federal government and free meals from food banks. And, what about the numerous homeless people in the USA? Where are they to go in order to comply with the ‘Stay-at- Home’ orders of state governments and the ‘Social – Distancing ‘Guidelines of the federal government ? Furthermore, to what extent could social distancing be practiced in the numerous overcrowded prisons of the United States, which are more than proportionately filled with people of colour – Afro – Americans and Latinos. This does not anyway mean to belittle social – distancing. In the absence of herd immunity or a credible vaccine, social distancing and aggressive testing are the only means of saving humanity from this horrible virus.

Corona impact in poor countries

The manner in which social inequalities have influenced the impact of COVID – 19 in rich countries has been briefly discussed. If the plight of the poor and underprivileged in rich countries could be called grave, the condition of their counterparts in poor nations is simply hopeless, to say the least. The sad plight of millions of migrant workers resulting from the Coronavirus ‘Lockdown’ in India is a glaring example. They have been literarily thrown into the streets as a result of the close down of businesses in big cities such as Delhi. These proletarians seem to have only two choices – either face the deadly Coronavirus or die of hunger. The visuals of thousands of unemployed migrant workers languishing under the Yamuna Flyover in Delhi without food speak volumes. The pictures of thousands of migrant workers walking hundreds of miles in the scorching sun towards their villages along the dusty highways of India are by no means less disturbing. What have the high GDP growth, the glamour of the Sensex stock market index, the impressive foreign reserves, and the Go – Downs overflowing with rice, done for these poor dispossessed people?

Corona Time Bombs – Slums and Refugee Camps

The Coronavirus has begun to spread exponentially in the poor countries in Asia, Africa and South America. Most of these nations have numerous slums. Some of them, such as the Dharavi slum of Mumbai of Slum Dog Millionaire fame, have populations in excessive that of some large European cities. While social distancing, test – kits, ventilators, personal protection equipment ( PPE), and ICU beds have been, quite rightly, the concerns of well-meaning good folks in affluent countries such as New York’s governor Andrew Cuomo, clean running water, soap, living space, and basic toilet facilities are luxuries for the people living in these slums. How can anyone call for social distancing where ten persons have to share one room and hundreds have to share a toilet? The conditions in the numerous crowded refugee camps situated on the conflict zones in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa are no better, if not worst. The huge camps of Syrian refugees in the Idlib province of Syria and of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh come to one’s mind. The people of these camps have gone through hell long before the emergence of the virus: Their lives have already been brutalized. The Rohingya refugees from Myanmar are victims of religious bigotry, whilst most of the rest are victims of proxy wars of Big Powers, driven by greed for commercial profit and regional domination. However, from a public health point of view the slums and refugee camps are veritable time bombs. The people who live in these slums and refugee camps count among the world’s poorest of the poor. Their lives are at imminent risk from the deadly virus. Needless to say, socio-economic inequalities have a very significant bearing on the impact of the Coronavirus.