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Covid-19 and social stigma: Role of scientific community

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijtb.2020.07.012Get rights and content

Abstract

COVID-19 has led to stigma and discrimination among various groups of people in different populations. Healthcare workers caring for those affected by COVID-19,3 people who have recovered from COVID-19,4 those belonging to lower socioeconomic groups, those having particular religious and racial identities have all been at the receiving end of the discrimination. COVID-19 has led to reinforcement of preexisting stereotypes against various groups. For instance, in Italy, in weeks before the national lockdown started, a state of emergency was declared but everyday life was going on as always, the sentiment toward the Chinese community changed: their restaurants were left empty, more and more parents did not want their children to go to school if they had a Chinese classmate, and a high-profile politician said on TV that ‘we have all seen them eat live mice’.

Keywords

Stigma
Covid 19
Pandemic
Social Stigma

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