ATLANTA — ATLANTA – Despite pleas from our nation’s Coronavirus Task Force, many young people continue to take a cavalier attitude toward the illness.
Images of crowded beaches at spring break sparked anger among those who’ve practiced social distancing, as did the crowded bars on St. Patrick’s Day. More recently, at least one young person from Kentucky fell ill with COVID-19 after attending a “coronavirus party,” and a 26-year-old Missouri man was arrested after posting a video of himself licking items on a store shelf and declaring, “who’s afraid of coronavirus?”
Why?
Dr. Shanta Dube, Associate Professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences at Georgia State University’s School of Public Health, says for most young people, it’s the first time they’ve experienced a public health threat of this magnitude.
“No blame being assigned,” says Dr. Dube. “Just spread the word rather than spread the virus.”
Dr. Dube says we all go through a phase in our behavioral development when we see ourselves as invincible.
“This is a natural developmental tendency of this age group,” says Dr. Dube. “The thinking is, ‘I’m less likely to get the infection and we’ll worry about that later if it happens.’”
Health care experts stress there is risk in every age group. While the elderly face the highest risk there have been cases of young people falling seriously ill.
Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the Coronavirus Task Force, has pointed out that the younger generation knows better than anyone how to be social from a distance.
“They intuitively know how to contact each other without being in large social gatherings,” says Birx.
Birx has said that convincing millennials and Gen Z to take social distancing seriously could be a key to ending this pandemic.
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