Corona Challenge .. These people deliberately spread the virus around us

Zahraa Magdy

Traffic stopped suddenly, in a street in the city of Hertfordshire in England, due to a quarrel between a couple of seventy years of age and three teenagers under the influence of drugs, approached them and coughed with their faces, to spread terror, as coughing and sneezing in the difficult days of Corona became a cannon aimed towards Heart straight.

Young males were between 16, 18 and 19. They deliberately intimidated the elderly, and played the role of those infected with the HIV virus, until the wife fell unconscious, and they continued to break the couple's car, and clash with passers-by who tried to save the terrified husband, until the police arrived and arrested them.

This comes at a time when countries of the world are preparing to impose more restrictions, and to ensure that everyone adheres to precautionary measures due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus.

The Irish Minister of Health, Simon Harris, was the last victim of the "Corona Challenge", after a man and woman publicly approached him, intentionally cried in the face, and then laughed and fled. Harris condemned the incident and described the "Corona Challenge" as pathetic.

It may be understandable that older adolescents choose to frighten them, because - until now - coronavirus deaths are concentrated among the elderly, who suffer from an average weakened immune system more than the young, and have a higher rate of chronic diseases. Although people of all ages with chronic medical conditions are also at a higher risk, death is the most common endpoint among older adults.

These horrific behaviors have spread around the world. In Munich, the police arrested a German man after he posted a video on social media while licking subway ticket machines for his desire to spread the Corona virus, he said.

In the video spread online, this 33-year-old man licks in his tongue subway ticket machines, marble stair handrail and escalator handrail as well, to infect all Munich subway visitors. But the police stated that it was not certain that the man was infected with coronavirus, but he was tested during interrogation.

Not in Germany alone. In Belgium, a video of a drunken man in the underground was filmed, taking off a face mask he was wearing, then it looked as if he was putting his fingers in his mouth, licking her, before rubbing it with train poles and handrails the exit door.

The video spread quickly, amid fear and astonishment of this act, then the train in the video was withdrawn to be completely cleared, and an official statement from the Belgian Transport Authority confirming that it cleans the trains daily, to ensure that the Corona virus does not spread in public transport.

Social media pioneers were divided in their judgment on the scene between what they see as "an amateur actor seeking to fame on the Internet and taking advantage of the critical situation to appear", and who confirms that the man is sick with the Corona virus, and began to harvest the lives that were transmitted infection because of his act.

Corona and Tik Tok

The love of appearing and the opportunity to gain followers as a reason for these actions cannot be excluded. On TikTok - a platform used by teenagers to share videos - a young American shared a video of himself licking the toilet seat in the plane, to be followed by many under the name of "Corona Virus Challenge."

The young man said in the investigations that he was tired of the fabricated fuss about the Coruna virus and his getting more attention from him, and that he deserves that fame. Unfortunately, this young man has already been diagnosed as a Coronavirus patient, and is undergoing hospital treatment.

Despite the fate of the owner of the painful "Corona Virus Challenge", thousands are still following his approach, sharing their footage with the world. Where another American appeared licking the local toilets in his state, and upon his arrest and testing he was discovered with Corona virus, due to his licking of public toilets, what many considered to be an embodiment of "karma", a moral concept that requires that if a person does something good or bad, the penalty is the same .

The reasons cannot be limited to the pursuit of fame. Among those who challenged were Eva Louise, an Instagram superstar, and a Dr. Dr. Phil Show. Louise appeared in a video licking the toilet seat in the plane, and wrote, in her commentary, "Please. Republish this video so that people know how to pay attention to their health on the plane", to write hours later that she doubts that she was infected with the Corona virus because of her fever and stress, and also claimed that she earned four thousand dollars From the video.

These videos spread to men and women licking car handles, faucets, benches, as well as dishes, motorcycles, football, trees, and door handles, and the videos on #CoronavirusChallenge tagged more than nine hundred million views on the TikTok app.

"Some people may think they are invincible, but the virus infects anyone, and from it to others they may not stand up long in front of it," says Dr. Lisa Akerley, a British doctor nicknamed the hygiene doctor.

These videos, criticized by the doctor and retired nursing professor, John Campbell, said, "This behavior may kill hundreds of innocent people, if a person is infected. He may be infected if he is healthy, and then pass it on to others."

While Dr. Jeff MacDonald, the psychologist at the University of Toronto, says, "The pursuit of appearance and fame may be like food for some. And for teens it is their urgent need of our time."

These behaviors can simply pass the HIV infection on to thousands of people, and from them to millions of families. In the past few weeks, we have reiterated the need to stay at home, and act responsibly towards individuals and society around us, to overcome the crisis of the spread of the Corona virus in the world, and try to reduce the number of deaths.

The World Health Organization mentioned the need to avoid behaviors that may exacerbate the crisis and spread the infection. A healthy person can be infected through small droplets scattered from the nose and mouth of a person who is infected with the Corona virus when sneezing and coughing.

These droplets settle on the surfaces and objects surrounding the infected person, and the virus settles with them for different periods, depending on the nature of the surface, whether metal, paper or glass, and studies indicate that the Corona virus may remain alive for a few hours or several days.