Covidiot: Those hoarding during pandemic times have a new name!
New Delhi, India —
While the world is fighting the pandemic called COVID-19, some people on Urban Dictionary have found a novel way to shame those who either hoard essentials or buy more of what they actually need. They have called the hoarders and panic-buyers as Covidiots.
The word has been well received by netizens as the hashtag #Covidiots has been trending in many regions across the world.
On Urban Dictionary, one user described the word Covidiot as someone who ignores the warnings regarding public health or safety. ‘A person who hoards goods, denying them from their neighbours.’
While another explains it as, “People who freak out and buy everything in the f**king store because the news scared them about the flu (COVID-19).”
“Person who, in times of pandemic crises, unnecessarily hoards toilet paper and more food than a family of eight could possibly eat in a year, has no regard for the welfare of others by buying up absolutely everything, is a self-serving nitwit, and likely hasn’t clue one about the actual disease. These people will, by and large, possess a herd mentality and inadvertently put the general population at risk by perpetuating mistruths, rumours, and conjecture. They will have likely voted for Trump at one time or another,” another user on Urban Dictionary writes about the newly invented word.
It is not just their descriptions, they have given some of the funniest sentence use cases as well.
“Did you see that covidiot with 300 rolls of toilet paper in his basket?” writes one user.
While the other has this sentence as an example: “Look at that crowd of covidiots in line at the grocery store. I’ll bet they want toilet paper even though less than 5% will actually develop diarrhoea for corona. Morons!”
“I tried picking up groceries for my grandmother today but everything on her list had already been hoarded by COVIDiots…I guess Grandma will have to wipe her a*s with the newspaper now,” is one more sentence use example.
It is pertinent to mention that after the COVID-19 Coronavirus was declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), people started panic-buying masks and hand sanitizers.
As the demand for these items surged, governments intervened. In India, the Epidemic Act and Disaster Management Act was invoked as a consequence of which prices of these items were capped. The hoarding of such items is the response by medical shops and allied suppliers.
Although, both the panic-buyer and deliberate hoarder has a new name, the consequences of such actions will be borne by one and all as the virus doesn’t make a distinction while infecting people. The need of the hour is to take certain precautions but be kind and compassionate at the same time. If everyone is safe, then only are you safe too!
