Plight and anxiety of western youth under the pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic is still spreading across the globe, infecting over 25 million people, with 6.1 million from the US, as of August 30. A worrying reality is the high infection rate among youths. On August 20, Dr. Kruge, Director of WHO’s Regional Office for Europe, said in a video press release in Copenhagen that confirmed cases in Europe are growing at a pace of 26,000 a day in recent weeks, and that the infection rate for the age group 15-24 had grown from 4.5% in February to 15% in mid-July. Kruge expressed his concern that the lax attitude of young people to social distancing may put their families in danger.

According to Reuters, weary of lockdown measures and fond of the summer in the northern hemisphere, young people in some countries are gathering again for parties, barbecues and vacations, resulting in a resurgence of the pandemic. WHO officials call on young people to refrain from parties to prevent cluster infections. Dr. Michael Ryan, Executive Director of WHO Health Emergencies Program, points out that young people need to be aware of their responsibilities and ask the question ‘do I really need to go to that party?’

Misguidance led to youth ignorance to pandemic

Young people took the brunt of blame in the early days of the pandemic as photos and video clips went viral online showing how they gathered in crowded indoor parties, bars and beaches and paying no regard to the epidemic. Although WHO data show a lesser likelihood of youth developing severe Covid-19 symptoms, the number of infected youth aged 15-24 has tripled within 5 months. The majority of these infected youngsters may have only mild symptoms, but their ignoring mask-wearing and social distancing may potentially spread the disease to a larger scale, putting more people at a greater risk of infection.

Young people in Europe are still meeting friends the way they did before the pandemic, bars in coastal cities in France and Spain are crowded with young people, resulting in new infections on a daily basis. Youths in Berlin, according to a recent report, even threw a wild party in a park, severely violating official guidelines and local regulations on public gathering. In Geneva, where the WHO is headquartered, some night clubs and bars were shut down as evidence has shown nearly half of the newly infected cases are from these places. According to Kruge, there is an urgent need to engage with youth in epidemic control given their rising proportion in confirmed cases. Dr. Ryan said that young people are generally reluctant to disclose information about themselves and their friends to contact tracing investigators. A recent report from Switzerland showed that fake names such as “Donald Duck” were used on party registration list in a Zurich nightclub, where a confirmed case was recently reported.

The situations in the US are similar as its CDC recently released data that show the infected aging 18-29 account for 27.1% in July. Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of NIAID (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases), said that “the average age of new coronavirus patients has dropped by roughly 15 years compared with only a few months ago”. The Associated Press pointed out that Independence Day rallies, graduation parties, non-masked weddings and crowded bars are the reasons why the US ranks first in confirmed cases and deaths. Many Americans refuse to wear masks or maintain social distancing, calling such measures an overreaction and an infringement of personal freedom. In Massachusetts, at least 6 cluster infections are related to high school graduation parties, proms, football training camps and other activities.

According to VOX News Network, “part of what’s behind the sharp increase of youth infection is the chaotic public health information that leading young people to think Covid-19 as a ‘disease for senior citizens’, which resulted in some sort of public ignorance, and premature re-opening measures”. The Trump administration has been publishing epidemic information contrary to that of medical experts since the very beginning, one of the misinformation being “young people are not susceptible to coronavirus”. Despite the fact that Dr. Fauci highlighted the risk of youth infection and the rising number of young people infected, the US government still believes that “children are almost immune to Covid-19”, and that “young people are unlikely to pass the disease to others even after infected”. To quickly reopen schools, the US government has repeatedly spread the view that “young people are less likely to contract the coronavirus”. A series of anti-intellectualism remarks, ranging from “no masks” to “disinfectant therapy”, had obviously a negative impact on young people and misled their understanding of the pandemic.

Perception change remains difficult

Infection risks by young people have drawn the attention of government, health departments and scientists, who urged the youth not to host or attend indoor parties and transmit the disease to their grandparents. Ordinary folks are also warning the young people in their countries through multiple channels to comply with epidemic-control rules. The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) reported that a 21-year-old went out with his friends and led to infection of the whole family. His father, after being discharged from hospital, joined his mother Zemit in imploring young people to take the issue seriously. Zemit said in an interview that “the young people know nothing about the issue and they don’t seem to care either. My son stayed home for some days but as soon as the lockdown was lifted, he decided to go out and play with his friends”. BuzzFeed News reported that Karim Salman, a 23-year-old Covid-19 patient, shared on TikTok his treatment experience in hospital to make the public know the pandemic is by no means a joke, and that only by complying with epidemic-control rules can we overcome the coronavirus. “Daily Mail” reported that Dan Collins, a 24-year-old nurse in Melbourne, Australia, contracted Covid-19 after taking care of elderly patients. Sharing his own symptoms, he warned young people that this disease is not a “geriatric disease”.

Nonetheless, it’s hard to say whether these warnings are able to shift the youth’s understanding of the pandemic. A research by Oxford University’s Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism shows that there is a core difference in how the young and elderly observe news. The former tends to approach news with an egoistic mindset – they like news that is useful, interesting, and fun to them. In the eyes of the young people, what’s important is what news can do for them instead of the society.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that Pu Soura, a professor of communications at the University of Canberra, pointed out that due to the spread of the misinformation that “Covid-19 is a disease of the elderly” at the beginning of the epidemic, young Australians believed the epidemic was a distant reality and felt that the information released by government and the media was not relevant. Pu Soura said: “Even today, many believe only the elderly can get the virus.” Young people do not watch news, they just randomly browse social media, and the Health Department’s press release is not popular among them. In addition, because they have received more negative information than usual, they tend to avoid epidemic-related news for psychological reasons.

In fact, research has found that although young Australians do not like traditional media, they browse the WHO website and the statements of some specific experts more often than the elderly. However, it’s obvious that the influence of scientific information is limited. Columbia University epidemiologist Wafaa El-Sadr said that the best way to make young people take their role in epidemic prevention is to amplify the correct voice, “draw the attention of young people through people they follow, instead of relying on traditional information release channels of the health sector”.

Youth under psychological pressure during pandemic

Young people who couldn’t help socializing during pandemic are accused of being selfish, irresponsible, and weak-willed. Some even ridiculed by saying that “the greatest generation of Americans survived the Great Depression and World War II, and today’s young people can’t even stay at home for TV.” Some studies, however, point out that socializing is the instinct of youth, and social isolation can cause more psychological damage to young people than to the elderly. A study conducted by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in May showed that nearly half of the 18- to 29-year-old respondents said they had experienced symptoms of anxiety and depression, a proportion much higher than other age groups.

The Wall Street Journal reported that scientists pointed out that young people leaving their home to communicate with the outside is a necessary process for the formation of self-awareness in the growth process. It is also very important for their brain development and mental health. Exploration is a neurobiological task for them. Studies have shown that the brains of young adults are biologically inclined to make impulsive decisions in pursuit of new experiences. Under the pandemic, lonely young people cannot meet social needs or seek psychological counseling through school, so they tend to ignore prevention rules.

In addition, a survey in the UK shows that many young people believe that the epidemic has restricted their future choices and are thus concerned about their future education, employment and housing. Bloomberg also points out that a quarter of young people under the age of 25 in the United States were unemployed this spring, which not only made them lose their medical insurance, but also the sense of mission and belonging that work used to bring them. The Royal Public Health Association is calling on everyone to care about the mental health of young people as jobs for young people under the age of 25 are highly likely to be closed during the pandemic, and concerns about personal health after reopening will also increase their anxiety.