When Prasiddhi Shrestha was tested for Covid-19, she was the second reported case in Nepal. She has since been discharged from hospital after a complete recovery but had to face a dual tragedy. While she fought the disease, strangers began hurling hate speeches at her on the internet. The hostility went as far as her having to receive death threats. Shrestha had to bear not only physical illness, but the less-visible stigma that came with it despite not being guilty of anything.

Shrestha, an undergrad student in Paris, had returned home after her college announced that it was moving classes online due to the Covid-19 outbreak. She had no symptoms whatsoever. But when her friend tested positive for the coronavirus, she decided to take the test too. She was also found positive. But Shrestha was in self-quarantine, and had taken all the measures to make sure it would not spread to others. But for the larger public, waiting on to jump on speculations and spewing hate, these measures did not suffice.

Research has often shown that people tend to harbour negative attitudes towards people with illness. HIV/AIDS often tops that list wherein the survivors routinely experience discrimination and stigmatisation. But as is evident right now, even those with seemingly lesser conditions can experience stigma.

Needless to say, these are uncertain times as no one knows for sure when the world will be returning to normalcy. Everything is characterised by fear and risk. Given that, it becomes even more imperative for the media and other avenues of knowledge production to spread information correctly as well as display sensitivity. But the media cannot do this alone. It needs the support of the government. Lack of information and misinformation during a pandemic, or a crisis situation in other words, is dangerous to say the least. It is this very gap that could further lead to people’s stigmatisation as well as victimisation.

Instead of listening to experts from the respective fields, which in this case are doctors and other frontline workers, the government seems to be relying on some mysterious sources whose conclusions are unscientific. For example, Prime Minister KP Oli was seen lecturing in a video that washing hands with hot water and donning masks along with specs the whole time will prevent one from catching the coronavirus. Regrettably, all his claims are ill founded and do more harm than good in the fight against Covid-19. The viral video is replete with misinformation. Its danger is that such misinformation will naturally generate anxiety and fear among the population who take their chosen leader’s words at face value. And this chain of anxiety and fear will in return create stigma. Needless to say, discrimination, fear and misinformation spread as fast as the pandemic itself.

Shrestha came out stronger from the stigmatisation, but not everybody might possess a similar will. Therefore, it is the government who needs to be at the forefront of providing accurate information so that the population is well informed. But for that, the authorities must double-check the facts themselves before opening their mouths. In such a time of crisis we need to fight not only the disease but also stigmatisation and misinformation, as both can be deadlier than the disease itself.