{"id":22147,"date":"2021-01-20T09:32:30","date_gmt":"2021-01-20T07:32:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aej-bulgaria.org\/?p=22147"},"modified":"2021-01-20T09:37:17","modified_gmt":"2021-01-20T07:37:17","slug":"this-is-just-a-flu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aej-bulgaria.org\/en\/this-is-just-a-flu\/","title":{"rendered":"This Is Just a Flu"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Nadezhda Tsekulova<\/h3>\n

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\nNadezhda Tsekulova is a freelance journalist and a communication expert, based in Sofia Bulgaria.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Many Bulgarian public figures have spoken about being sick with COVID-19. Their experience varied \u2014 some were seriously ill and even treated in intensive care, though others overcame the disease while experiencing mild or no symptoms. What all of them agree on is that this virus should not be underestimated. In addition, all of them describe the infection as \u201cstrange\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, in our country and around the world, doubts remain about the seriousness of COVID-19. There are even people who still don\u2019t believe the virus exists.<\/span><\/p>\n

The new virus is like the seasonal flu \u2014 misinformation or optimism<\/b><\/p>\n

At the beginning of the pandemic, the prevailing view was that the course of COVID-19 would follow that of the seasonal flu. Social networks and forums were <\/span>saturated<\/span><\/a> with infographics depicting the annual number of deaths from starvation, accidents, cancer, and influenza. The data were used as evidence of how irrelevant the strict restrictions imposed in the fight against the infection were, and as an argument that there was no need to panic. Both <\/span>around the world<\/span><\/a> and in <\/span>Bulgaria<\/span><\/a>, high-ranking political leaders and <\/span>experts<\/span><\/a> supported the notion that SARS-CoV-2 causes the common flu and measures to control it should not be different from those used during seasonal epidemics.<\/span><\/p>\n

In January, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 epidemic a public health emergency of international importance. Back then, the disease was ranked as the least dangerous cause of death in a list of nearly 20, which did not even include the most common ‘”killers” of the world’s population: heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and Alzheimer’s. The very real anxiety caused by other well-known, widespread infections compared to the lack of an imminent sense of threat from COVID-19 made the new infection seem ordinary to many people. Not for long.<\/span><\/p>\n