Held opinion: Buddhist countries spared worst of Covid 19 infection

A young woman I know, extra pious and believing in the paranormal aspects attached by believers to Buddhism, made the pronouncement that Sri Lanka was spared a blitz from the Covid 19 pandemic because it is a country with a large Buddhist population. We smirked privately but pointed out to her that we are a tropical country and direct sunlight is a destroyer of the corona virus. Also the spices we lace our curries with, and kottamalli we drink, also immune aiding kola kenda we often have for breakfast, would help to keep contagion low and death rate almost negligible. Yes, she conceded but stuck to her theory that the benevolent gods (surely Buddhist!) and the presence of the Tooth Relic and the sacred Bo Tree made for greater protection of the country and its people. Yes, true again, she said, when we pointed out the excellent public health services we have and the presidential task force that worked day and night (literally) counting no cost to themselves, to contain the infection.

But to her the gods played a larger part and I suppose the refuge 70 percent take in the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha (of arahants), though the majority admittedly only parrot the intro to the five precepts, had protective powers, at least psychological, which is significant in resistance to disease. She insisted our being Buddhist was why we got off easily, though of course now we are holding our combined breath with the sudden increase in cases, as I write this in late July. So I ask her, how do people who are so corrupt and up to all sorts if evil ruses to amass wealth or satiate their baser desires continue to live so well? They too are parasitic viruses, and most profess to be Buddhists!
Quoting the article And then I read Paul Pateman’s article ’ in The Economist of July 11, 2020 – ‘Why has the pandemic spared the Buddhist parts of South East Asia?’

Patemen begins his essay thus: “One of the bigger riddles of the global pandemic lies in South-East Asia. Despite being close to the source of covid-19 in China, and to one of the current hotspots of the outbreak, India, the partly or largely Buddhist countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam have scarcely sneezed.
“Vietnam is the standout: with 97m people, it claims no deaths from covid-19. Thailand, with 70m, has seen just 58 fatalities. Impoverished Myanmar claims just six deaths from 317 cases, while Cambodia (141 confirmed cases) and tiny Laos (19 cases) also have no deaths apiece and no local transmission since April. Compare that with the nearby archipelagic nations of Indonesia (some 68,100 cases and 3,400 deaths) and the Philippines (50,400 cases and 1,300 deaths), where the pandemic still rages.”

He goes on to dissect situations and make assertions. “Set aside karmic grace as an explanation, especially given that Vietnam’s communist dictatorship is atheist. Vietnam’s success, indeed, is easiest to explain. The country has a suspicion of its big northern neighbour, China, rooted in millennia of historical interaction. At the start of the year it instinctively distrusted China’s reassurances about the disease and even launched cyber-attacks to get better information on the epidemic’s course. It closed its border and used authoritarian powers to lock down the population and trace and isolate cases. That, in essence, is what China’s communist authorities were also doing….. , but Thailand, a sham democracy overseen by generals, perhaps comes closest. The quality of its health care makes Thailand a popular destination for medical tourism. Moreover, the government was quick to set up a vigorous covid-fighting task-force…. But in Laos, which is too small to resist China’s blandishments” and the other countries continued close ties with China: “Myanmar, which is awash with Chinese traders and smugglers, or Cambodia, whose strongman, Hun Sen, is the region’s biggest cheerleader for China. Chinese construction is reshaping these countries, which all came under pressure not to close borders with China even as the pandemic spread. One widespread suspicion is that they did, but these were not reported.” Testing is severely limited in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. but there was no evidence of widespread transmission, such as hospital care seekers. It must be admitted that many of these countries are under near military rule.

Even the poorest countries adopted measures that must have helped check the spread of the corona virus. For instance migrant workers returning from Thailand to their villages in Myanmar often had to quarantine for 14 days in shacks outside their villages. Other beneficiary factors were more rural dwellers than urban slums; more fans or natural ventilation with little use of air conditioning; also the populations being generally younger and masks worn even at ordinary times. We all know that the greetings now advised are the namasthe (wai in Thai) borrowed from our eastern countries and knocking elbows (seen at the recent prolonged EU summit). Additionally I add: we are conservative and practice social distancing most of the time as a customary habit. We keep our distances, even among siblings. I remember a disciplinarian of a vice principal in my Kandy school derogating carefree hand holding of friends as “silly, sentimental slush!” There was never any dating allowed then, even for engaged-to-be married couples and inducements and coaxing were needed by a boy to get a girl to move closer, she modestly holding back due to conservative notions drilled into her.

The Economist article ends thus: “The question now is whether South-East Asia’s Buddhist successes can weather second or third waves. … reduced transmission from China was not the miracle some divine—the giant neighbour, after all, quickly got on top of its epidemic. Now, transmission routes are changing. Across Asia, infections are being imported from all round the world.” So true in Sri Lanka.
A national trait that helped, at least among the elders and educated I strongly feel that a personality trait or behaviour pattern we older people display and is followed by those, I dare say, with good upbringing is – being amenable to discipline. Whenever discussion of how we were spared the worse of the Covid so far, I bruit this idea. We older ones were obedient and took advice and observed rules and regulations. We respected those who advised us or even ordered us. And so we brought up our children to think and decide for themselves so they were also amenable to discipline. Thus when told by the government task force to wear masks, we donned them, adding gloves too. When ordered to stay locked down, we stayed strictly indoors. And thus we helped the efficient health services and medical personnel to contain the infection.
This in sharp contrast to what has happened, and continues to happen in the US, for example. They go crazy in summer with spring sap flowing and want to get to beaches, pubs, parks, often pasted together. The US has an additional impediment: a commandeering president who contravenes all the doctors’ warnings and says, probably believes too, that the US is doing well.

Now here comes in Buddhism. The religion lays great importance on self-isolation, discipline (sangwara bhavaya), contentment, reducing wants and greed, often seeming to advocate ascetism. Hence our compliance with lockdowns and shut-ins. We were content as long as we got our bare necessities, the government efficiently providing/allowing vendors to visit homes. It’s only the less educated and those with no true religiousness who run amok – the thugs and near thugs. They very nearly caused the pandemic to turn severe. There also can be an element of the paranormal. Pirit chanting has a positive effect and can boost fellow feeling and even immunity. Metta sent forth by the many can purify the atmosphere and probably curb the danger of Covid 19. Other religious leaders too were up front in leading their flocks to obey strictures laid down.