SATISH SHARMA - not just Rotigraphy.: ‘Covidiot’: New catch-all term created for people who ignore pandemic health warnings, hoard toilet paper

23 Mar, 2020 13:38

As the Covid-19 crisis continues around the globe, more and more evidence of human selfishness appears every day on social media. So much so that users have coined the new term “covidiot” to describe the… ahem, ‘viral’ phenomenon.

Social media users have enshrined the new word on Urban Dictionary, with a variety of definitions all covering one unifying, central theme – selfishness. The term ‘Covidiots’ can be used to describe people who ignore common sense advice not to travel or socialize unnecessarily, and those who engage in panic buying and stockpiling of toilet paper, surgical masks and hand sanitizer. It also applies to anyone simply not taking the crisis seriously.

While dark humor pervades online discourse about the coronavirus, more sinister scenes have also been shared far and wide, showing that humanity has a long way to go before shedding its most primal instincts.

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Covidiots may range from the man (or woman) on the street not respecting social distancing norms, to politicians preaching to the masses one moment – before outright ignoring their own advice the next.

However, there are several egregious and downright dangerous examples of people ignoring basic hygiene practices that not even a catch-all term like ‘Covidiot’ can cover.