The Second Pandemic

By Robin G. Jordan

The United States is facing two pandemics in 2020. The first pandemic is COVID-19, a highly infectious virus that has taken a high toll of human lives in the United States and around the world. While New York City has seen a drop in COVID-19 cases, elsewhere in the United States the number of cases is on the rise. The second pandemic is associated with the first. It is a pandemic of denial and unfortunately, like COVID-19, it is spreading.

When someone is in denial, he or she “refuses to accept fact or reality.” He or she will “act as if a painful event, thought, or feeling does not exist.” Denial is one of the most primitive of defense mechanisms A defense mechanism is a way that people “distance themselves from a full awareness of unpleasant thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.” Most people engage in some form of denial during their early childhood. It is also one of the most common defense mechanisms. Many people will continue to use denial later in life rather than deal with painful feelings or areas of their lives that they do not want to admit to themselves or others.

The most common forms of denial that we are observing in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic is the refusal or unwillingness to acknowledge the seriousness of the pandemic. We are not only seeing this form of denial in the general population but also among government leaders and media pundits. The latter is particularly worrisome since these individuals are in a position to influence and shape public opinion, including how seriously the public takes the pandemic and the public health measures for slowing the spread of the virus. Without the cooperation of the bulk of the general population and the consistent implementation of public health measures such as quarantine, social distancing, handwashing, and disinfecting of surfaces the virus will infect more people and the death toll from the virus will keep going up.

A second form of denial that we are observing in relation to the pandemic is the refusal or unwillingness of individuals and groups to see how their conduct is contributing to the transmission of the disease. For example, parents in my neighborhood are allowing their children to play with the other children in the neighborhood. While many children who become infected with the virus experience no or mild symptoms, they can spread the disease to grownups and to the older and more vulnerable members of the population.

A third form of denial is the refusal or unwillingness of individuals and groups to place a high value on human life. This form of denial is most discernible among business leaders and politicians. Business leaders are concerned about the reduction of their profit margins and politicians about the loss of their big campaign contributors. They are eager to reopen the economy despite the high cost in human lives.

If we are to deal successfully with the COVID-19 pandemic, we must also deal with the accompanying pandemic of denial. What we have here is not a simple difference of opinion about a matter upon which we can agree to disagree. It is a matter that involves life-and-death decisions. One cannot just shrug off the rise in COVID-19 cases and fatalities that will accompany the premature reopening of businesses, schools, and churches. For a Christian such an action is unconscionable.