抗击非典

1. Highlights of SARS “非典” 之突出反映

　　The outbreak of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), which has no known cure for victims afflicted by it, has brought widespread panic to people and has drastically altered the pattern of their daily life. The famous saying of President FD Roosevelt that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself” aptly encapsulates the state of mind of a large cross-section of people.

　　 It is fair to say that it has highlighted both the nobler and weaker sides of modern people’s character. First, the well-deserved accolades. Our valiant and caring healthcare givers, both in the public and private sectors, have borne the brunt of it, especially during the early stage, with not a few of them contracting it and some fighting for their lives. On the unedifying side, numerous fellow people have treated their healthcare professional like pariahs. Some even avoid them like plagues. These were utterly irrational and inexcusable. At the other extreme, the repeated use of the term “super-infector” by some of the health authorities and the media to emphasize the transmission of this disease by one particular patient to numerous others was rather unfortunate and showed the lack of sensitivity to the feelings of this hapless victim and his or her family.

　　 This outbreak also highlights a trait of modern people, which is that we tend to overreact in a crisis situation, instead of remaining calm and act rationally. We should do some honest soul searching and learn the object lessons from the outbreak. This would enable us to tackle other future national crises with greater success and equanimity. (263 words)

　　2． Finding out about ourselves 发现我们自己

　　SARS has affected people’s daily lives in some important places. What has it shown us about ourselves? What lessons can we draw from its spread?

　　The fight against SARS shows two sharply contrasting groups of people — medical staff working in the frontline with the risk of being infected and some pharmacies, merchants and the like making high profits from the disease.

　　The outbreak of SARS urges people to change their unhealthy habits or customs, which may add fuel to the fire. Meals served individually should be encouraged. That is, each one has his own portion of food instead of sharing it from common plates. This practice will greatly reduce the possibility of the spread of germs. We should also confine spitting or littering in public places. For pet lovers, they should take measures to prevent infections being transferred by animals.

　　The government should learn how to deal with emergencies from this SARS spread. Participation of and cooperation with the people are vital in curbing the crisis. Thus, the government should take the responsibility to inform the public. Blocking information will always intensify, instead of ease, panic. There is also an urgent need to set up a nationwide public health network, to improve the response to public health emergencies such as the SARS epidemic.

　　Everyone turns pale at the mention of SARS. Some even hide home with food stored. However, I think it is not necessary to be so scared. Epidemics are not rare in human history. As long as we treat and prevent it in the right way, we will finally conquer it. Mankind’s future depends on ourselves. (243 words)

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