SARS, COVID-19, And The Legacy Virus

I remembered there was the anti-Chinese hysteria back in the early 2000s because of the SARS which means Severe Acquired Respiratory Syndrome. Now, there's the COVID-19 or the Coronavirus Disease-19. Both viruses throw me back when I was still reading Marvel Comics and remembered the Legacy Virus. Then there was that one specific episode in Saban's X-Men: The Animated Series called "Time Fugitives" where a virus was blamed on mutants. I'd dare say that it's an unintentional metaphor for the SARS and the COVID-19 outbreak.

How is it that I compare the SARS and COVID-19 to the Legacy Virus from Marvel Comics? I remembered some anti-Chinese hysteria back when I was in college. I simply had the flu but some people assumed I had SARS. Other Filipino-Chinese were discriminated against by other students believing they too carried the SARS virus. Fortunately, the university didn't support their actions. In this decade, there's also news of anti-Asian racism in the Western world all because of the COVID-19. Are the Chinese race to blame for the COVID-19? If ever COVID-19 was manufactured in China - should all Chinese the blame for its existence like all mutants take the blame for the Legacy Virus? Some Filipinos may need to consider if a disease originated in the Philippines if they want every single Filipino blamed for it.

The Legacy Virus presented itself to be at first carried only by human mutants. However, baseline humans were soon infected when it entered Infectia's body. In the Saban continuity of X-Men - we can see that it affected humans too and mutants were blamed for it. It was, in reality, Apocalypse's aim to wipe out all humans (in the comics, the virus was supposed to kill all humans) with the virus. Graydon Creed a mutant hater (and ironically, the son of two mutants who discarded him) tried to use the virus to start a war. The same can be true for the SARS and COVID-19 - both viruses may have originated in China but it chooses no nationality. The virus was wrongly blamed on all mutants by bigots without realizing that mutants are humans too. Chinese are human too and there are good and bad ones among them. Fortunately, some tolerant humans and the X-Men worked together to help combat the Legacy Virus especially now it's hurting both human mutants and baseline humans.

What's amazing is that SARS, COVID-19, and the Legacy Virus do share some symptoms. In this case, the COVID-19 has become a worldwide epidemic, unlike SARS. Both COVID-19 and the Legacy Virus sufferers share some common symptoms such as coughing, fever, and overall weakness. SARS, COVID-19, and the Legacy Virus are all airborne agents capable of mutating into different strains. Both of them also have some racist attachments. The Legacy Virus was blamed on mutant humans as if they weren't humans too. The COVID-19 was blamed on Asians by some people in the USA the same way mutants were blamed for the Legacy Virus. If anything, the Legacy Virus should inspire a dialogue against COVID-19 and not AIDS. Sadly, Marvel fell into the woke virus - something I believe is deadlier than the COVID-19 and the Legacy Virus combined.

At this point, we should really work together to combat the COVID-19 infection. China is now doing all it can to contain the infection. Other countries are working hard to combat it. Now, the Philippines has some decent Filipinos working together to combat the COVID-19. Let's put all kinds of anti-Chinese hysteria and mass panic aside if we expect to counter the COVID-19.