COVID-19 patient traumatised by social media attacks

Each time Ching (not his real name) comes across a COVID-19 positive patient whose identity is exposed on social media, his heart goes out to the unfortunate person.

The string of insults and verbal abuse netizens hurl at COVID-19 patients, regardless of whether they are ‘tabligh’ participants or overseas returnees, causes him a great deal of heartache.

Ching can fully relate to how the poor patients must be feeling because just two months ago, he was in the same boat. In fact, at that time he was more concerned about society’s perception of him than his own health.

Ching, 33, had returned to Malaysia from Hong Kong – where he was working as a marketing executive – on Feb 1 during the Chinese New Year holidays but little did he know the ordeal that awaited him.

Two days after his return, he developed a sore throat and fever. A few days later, he went to a hospital to get himself screened for COVID-19 as his fever did not subside.

The next day on Feb 7 he was informed that he had been tested positive and that an ambulance would pick him up to take him to Hospital Sungai Buloh.

On the way to the hospital, he received several WhatsApp messages from his friends asking him if he had been infected by the COVID-19 virus.

“I was shocked and had no idea how they knew I was infected. I was still inside the ambulance then and I hadn’t even had time to inform my own family about my condition but some of my friends already knew about it,” he related to Bernama.

While undergoing treatment at the hospital, some friends sent Ching screenshots of his photograph, as well as information on his family background, that someone, apparently, had posted on social media and which went viral.

He unwittingly found himself at the receiving end of netizens’ wrath, all because he had returned from overseas and was COVID-19 positive.

“Dealing with all those hate messages was a traumatic experience for me and at one point, I thought of running away from the hospital but I managed to calm down.

“I felt as if I was fighting two battles, one with the virus itself and the other with the stigma (of having COVID-19),” he said, adding that he also felt sorry for his parents as they also bore the brunt of the insults.

Upon his return from Hong Kong, Ching stayed with his parents in their hometown in Selangor and after he was diagnosed with COVID-19, his parents underwent self-quarantine and tested negative.

Ching recovered completely from the disease and is now on unpaid leave until further notice. His nightmare, however, has not ended.

“Even though I’m well now, some of my neighbours avoid me as I’ve been branded as a China-returned COVID-19 patient and a super spreader. Some of my friends would also joke that they cannot come near me.

“It was fortunate that while I was hospitalised, the medical staff who attended to me gave me a lot of encouragement and urged me to be strong enough to face the challenge,” he said.

Commenting on the stigma attached to COVID-19, psychologist Dr Wong Kok Fye said when patients are discriminated against and subject to abuse in cyberspace, they would not only have to deal with their disease but also mental and emotional stress.

“When their mental health worsens, they may contemplate killing themselves or they may seek revenge by turning into cyberbullies themselves as they want others to feel how they had felt when they were bullied,” he said.

He said besides hospital treatment, COVID-19 patients also need a lot of moral support from others to heal themselves physically and mentally.

“The stigma of the disease will make the situation worse. Worse still, when people show symptoms of the disease, they may not want to go for screening for fear that they will be ostracised by the public.

“If nothing is done about this and people continue to refuse to cooperate with the frontliners or quarantine themselves or see a doctor, how will we be able to curb the transmission of COVID-19?”

Wong suggested that the media carry reports that motivate COVID-19 patients and patients under investigation.

“The media should highlight cases of patients who have recovered from the disease and are now donating their plasma to scientists to help produce a vaccine. Such reports will also attract positive feedback from the public,” he added.

Meanwhile, those who are facing stress as a result of the Movement Control Order that has been enforced since March 18 and are also affected by COVID-19 can seek counselling via these hotlines: Mercy Malaysia and the Ministry of Health Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre’s psychosocial support hotline at ‪03-29359935‬; and Ministry of Women and Family Development’s iTalian Kasih/i hotline at 15999 or WhatsApp ‪019-2615999‬. - BERNAMA