collection 2020
"COVIDIOTS"?
Why Indian Travellers Evade Screening and Escape from Quarantine Centres
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By Apeksha Shetty
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On March 9, singer Kanika Kapoor returned to Mumbai after a trip to London. Her actions over the next six days would lead to over 260 people getting tested for COVID-19 and three cities being sanitized. The singer reportedly withheld details about her travel history, attended parties in multiple cities, and on March 20, tested positive for COVID-19.
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While Kanika Kapoor was a prominent celebrity to come under the scanner for her reckless actions, she was far from being the only one. Reports about people avoiding screening as well as fleeing quarantine centers came in from the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Odisha, among others. In Punjab, as many as 335 passengers with a history of travel to coronavirus-hit countries were untraceable, according to the state’s Health and Family Welfare Department. And all these cases came in before the national lockdown was imposed on March 24.
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In a country with a population of 1.3 billion, these numbers may not seem like much, however, the rapid spread of this disease and India's population density make these cases more serious. A recent study published by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has estimated that one patient with COVID-19 could infect as many as 406 people in 30 days under no lockdown conditions. While the symptomatic are identified and detained, asymptomatic travelers who ignore due procedure could fuel the further transmission of the disease.
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The term “Covidiots” has been used to describe people whose actions endanger others during this pandemic. In India, when the initial reports of Kanika Kapoor’s case came out, the hashtag KanikaKaCoronaCrime (Kanika’s Corona Crime) began trending. However, such generalizations fail to explain why people avoid screening or escape from quarantine centers.
Some news articles have blamed the poor state of the public healthcare system. The role of privilege in evading screening and quarantine has been pointed out too. Besides this, the role of fear and stigma of quarantine has been highlighted as well. However, in all these cases, the motivation behind the travellers’ actions are not well understood. One psychological theory could help explain why people do something they have been forbidden to do—reactance.
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What is reactance?
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Vivek* was in Abu Dhabi for a work trip when India’s self-isolation and quarantine rules were put in place. He managed to get back to the country on March 17—a day before compulsory quarantine was imposed for passengers from select countries, including the UAE. Despite that, he knew that he had to self-quarantine and was quite willing to do it. But the real problem began after the police and municipality officials visited his apartment.
“The visit set off alarm bells in the owners’ association, and soon, I was fielding calls all day. Though the words weren’t said, the people getting in touch with me seemed to just have one message— ‘Why are you putting us at risk?’ It was no fault of mine. I just lived there, like them,” says Vivek.
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“While I had every intention to follow the rules, the sudden accusations made it seem more like ‘forced isolation’ rather than self-quarantine. It’s a weird feeling to explain, but it’s similar to how when you’re being told to do something, even if you were planning to do it initially, somehow ends up making you feel like you don’t want to do it anymore,” he elaborates.
Vivek’s experience is a good example of the well-established theory of psychological reactance. Conceived by Jack W. Brehm in 1966, psychological reactance is a motivational state that emerges when people experience a threat to or loss of certain freedoms. Due to this, a person will feel like engaging in the activity that they are prohibited from doing, and in some cases, they actually act upon these impulses. In Vivek’s case, initially, he felt more in control of his decision to self-quarantine, but because of the accusations from the owners’ association, he experienced a loss of freedom in decision-making and felt the desire to break the rules.
This is not the first case where reactance has caused a public health message to fail. A 2011 study by David M. Erceg-Hurn & Lyndall Steed showed how graphic anti-smoking warnings led to reactance in Australian smokers. As a result of these ads, participants of the study reported that they were a lot less likely to quit smoking, and this defeated the very purpose of these ads.
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In the present situation, it is crucial to understand what triggers psychological reactance in home-coming Indian travellers who are evading screening or escaping from isolation wards.
Threat to freedom
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India is the largest democracy in the world, and citizens enjoy the right to freedom of movement under Article 19(1) (d), but within certain limitations. However, the problem is that most people in the country have not experienced a restriction on this fundamental freedom, until recently.
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While India had introduced screening for passengers from China and Hongkong from January 18, they extended it to several other COVID-19 affected countries on March 3. At that point, there were just six cases in the country. When the number rose to 29 on the next day, the government imposed stricter regulations—universal screening of all international flight passengers and quarantine or self-isolation if needed.
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So, when Indian travellers returned from their trip abroad, they were confronted with new rules which restricted them to their homes, or an isolation centre for at least 14 days. This may have caught several off-guard. An article published in Mashable India indicated that people didn’t really know what quarantine or self-isolation meant for them. Experiencing this sudden restriction in their freedom of movement as well as decision-making, they faced reactance, and in some cases, people acted to restore this freedom.
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“Never in a lifetime have people been so caged. And when people are no longer able to do what they want, they experience a lot of distress,” explains Mumbai-based clinical psychologist Avantika Naidu. Avantika works Wellbeing Volunteers United, a mental health helpline for guiding people through this time of uncertainty. “At such times, they may do what they’ve been told to avoid in order to reduce their distress.”
What may complicate matters and make reactance worse is a lack of information.
Lack of information
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Equipped with a face mask and disposable gloves, Zoya* began her long, circuitous journey from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Bangladesh, to Ahmedabad, Gujarat, on March 19. There were no direct flights from Bangladesh, and Zoya had no option but to change flights in Kolkata, West Bengal. It was a long trip, but she had come prepared.
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She changed gloves every three hours and had a certificate declaring her COVID-negative status handy. She was greeted at the Kolkata airport with a thermal gun screening, a device not unlike a barcode scanner. Cleared without any hassles, she continued onward to Ahmedabad airport but soon realized something was amiss.
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“Ahmedabad airport had no screening or testing procedures in place. Moreover, I was not told to self-isolate or given any details about how to self-isolate at either airport,” says Zoya. This lack of information was worrisome to her. She was going to be living in a small apartment with her parents and would not be able to maintain the required social distancing measures.
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Zoya was not the only one who had to deal with a lack of information. The government had not released any official documents explaining what quarantine is and what was expected of people. For several travellers, the only source of information was social media. Travellers from different parts of the country published posts about the poor conditions at quarantine facilities and asked for public support and help. This lack of information may have led to an increase in anxiety.
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In an interview with New York Times, psychologist and author Dr Harriet Lerner states, “Anxiety escalates and fantasies flourish in the absence of information.” She also stresses the need to look for facts from reliable sources to deal with anxiety, but in India, travellers may find it difficult to find relevant information from government sources.
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“There was a huge lack of information in the beginning,” says Avantika. “In some cases, government decisions were being made rapidly. Entry from certain countries was denied, or borders were shut suddenly, and this probably led to a lot of anxiety. When people think they won’t be able to meet their family and friends, sometimes, they panic and react.”
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In an interview with The Citizen, Pragya Lodha, Program Director at The MINDS Foundation, estimates that the pandemic has led to a 20-30% rise in cases of increased stress levels, anxiety, and panic attacks.
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A 1987 study by Gillian Butler and Andrew Mathews indicated that the more people were anxious about something, the more likely they were to envision negative outcomes related to it. When applied to the present situation, we can say that travellers’ heightened anxiety due to the lack of information could contribute to a higher threat perception regarding the screening and quarantine protocols. The higher threat perception can, in turn, lead to reactance.
But in what situations do people act upon their experience of reactance? The answer may lie with society as a whole.
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Social disapproval
Recreation based on an article published in ThePrint.in
March 15. An 18-year student returns from the UK and passes through the screening procedures at the international airport in Kolkata without any hitch. His mother, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, later discovers that her son’s friends in the UK have tested positive. She remains mum and decides to continue working and attends meetings with top bureaucrats in the state. Two days later, the son is finally taken to a government facility, where he tests positive for COVID-19 and becomes West Bengal’s first patient.
The early reports on this case lambasted the VIP culture in India. The VIP culture certainly explains how the student was able to evade authorities for two days. Still, it didn’t explain why he did it. Reactance could help explain the motivation for such actions, and when combined with a lack of disapproval from the parents, it potentially enabled the student to act on his feelings.
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Shane Timmons, co-author of Using behavioural science to help fight the coronavirus and a post-doctoral fellow at the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), Ireland, elaborates, “Reactance is a possible explanation for the actions of people, especially when they don’t expect or fear social disapproval or expect it from those whose opinions they care about. At such times, they might be more willing to not follow the (government’s) advice.”
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This would mean that if travellers expect social disapproval or punishment for avoiding quarantine, then they will be more likely to follow the rules. And India does have laws to serve as deterrence— IPC Section 269 [negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life] and Section 270 [malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life]. Kanika Kapoor’ was charged under these sections, and now that the singer has recovered, she is expected to be interrogated by the Lucknow Police soon. Besides, the public outrage over such cases also give out a clear indication that disobeying rules is not acceptable.
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However, social disapproval could backfire, especially in cases where it is uncalled for. For instance, when Vivek faced a backlash from his apartment complex’s residents, he experienced reactance as he was already following the rules, but was still under pressure. The lack of control and coercion to restrict his movements made him want to break the rules.
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So how can one handle this seemingly paradoxical situation and diffuse or neutralize reactance to ensure compliance? The answer lies in the model and factors that contribute to reactance in the first place.
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Solutions
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Shane offers solutions based on behavioural economics: “Along with building an expectation of social disapproval from peers or people who others look up to, like celebrities, there is a need to communicate a strong group identity. Rather than highlighting what’s different about these people, cooperation is more likely if people are treated like a cohesive group, even by leaders. In such cases, messages that imply that ‘We are all in this together’ are more likely to be effective.”
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Some empathy could go a long way too. Avantika suggests, “Attempts can be made to reinforce the thoughts of people suffering from reactance. Rather than making generalized statements, people can show more empathy, ask questions, and have a discussion rather than accusations.”
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And this does seem to work, based on Vivek’s experience. He says, “Things improved for me when I got in touch with the head of the residents’ association. I had a detailed chat regarding my travel history, people I’ve interacted with thus far, and how I intended to carry out my self-isolation. To be fair, after that, the association was gracious enough to arrange for any food/grocery to be dropped off at my doorstep, as opposed to the usual system of going to the gate to pick up deliveries. Once the national lockdown was imposed, I experienced a slight sense of upliftment due to the whole sense of community—we’re all in this together.”
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Besides this, officials should also try to provide detailed information regarding quarantine procedures, guides to self-isolate, and more. By doing so, they can alleviate anxiety and reduce risk perception regarding the process in travellers’ minds. For instance, when Zoya feared her parents’ health was at risk, she got in touch with her district’s Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO). The CMHO reassured her and gave tips on maintaining social distancing while sharing an apartment.
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Vivek and Zoya completed 14 days of self-quarantine without developing any symptoms, but both have decided to continue staying in for the time being. “My father excitedly talks about the places we’ll go to when the lockdown is over, but for now, we’ve decided that it is in everyone’s interest to just be at home,” says Zoya.
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*Last names withheld for privacy
About the Author
Apeksha Shetty,
India
Apeksha has a Bachelor’s degree in mass media and has worked as a copy editor with a children’s magazine and a digital media outlet in India. Currently, she is attempting to deepen her understanding of foreign policy and India’s standing on the global arena.
