COVID-19, curve flattening and zombies

Dorian Frazier
April 16, 2020
Hand ghosts by raybon009, licensed from iStock

Bloodthirsty zombies and the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 may not seem to have much in common, but both start as viruses, grab the attention of the media, whether  in the form of constant headlines or blockbuster movies and TV show spinoffs, and can lead to an unfortunate “us vs. them” mentality.

Since its appearance in China in late 2019, COVID-19 has been all over the media, in the same way that swine flu was before it. Technically, zombie movies have been around since 1943, with “White Zombie.” But it was George Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” that brought zombies to the forefront. The peak for the zombie craze was in the early 2000’s, with movies such as “Shawn of the Dead” (awesome movie), “Resident Evil,” and “Zombieland,” just to name a few. 

“Train to Busan” is my favorite zombie movie, and it’s the most recent of the bunch, released in 2016 in South Korea. It revolves around Seok-woo, a fund manager, taking his daughter Su-an down to Busan to visit her mother for her birthday. One infected traveler barely manages to get onto the high-speed train and fully transforms into a zombie within minutes. A zombie bites a train crew member, and the number of zombies begins to grow from the rear of the train, towards business class where Seok-woo and his daughter sit. As the train speeds towards Busan, a stop is made in Daejon Station, a “quarantined” city. The stop quickly turns to chaos, as soldiers stationed there are revealed to all be zombies, showcasing the spread of the virus outside of the train. The characters barely get back on the train as it continues south. 

“COVID-19 and the outbreak in the film result in an “us vs them” mentality, as people begin to discriminate against those with the virus or blame certain groups for its spread.”

-- Dorian Frazier

Several aspects of the movie remind me of the COVID-19 outbreak that started in China last year. 

In the movie, the zombie outbreak is covered up as “riots” but still receives constant media coverage. In real life, the threat of coronavirus was ignored or brushed off, despite warnings from scientists and other public health officials.

COVID-19 and the outbreak in the film result in an “us vs them” mentality, as people begin to discriminate against those with the virus or blame certain groups for its spread. The President of the United States went so far as to label the virus as the “Chinese virus” repeatedly to drive up more anti-Chinese sentiment (more “us vs them”). The movie has a more dramatized take on this, as the group of civilians in the first-class cabins at the front of the train first physically barricade the main characters from their cabin and then quarantine them to a smaller section.  

 “Train to Busan” ends with another example of “us vs them,” as the pregnant wife, Seong-kyeong, and Su-an, the seven-year old who wanted to go on the train trip in the first place, approach a safe zone, quarantined off by military. The military had orders to protect those inside, and nearly take the duo out, but stop once Su-an begins to sing, in tears from losing her father to the virus. The spread of the “us vs. them” mentality, which had been more rapid than the spread of the virus itself, ends the moment that the humanity in the other is recognized.

Since this idea first sprung up in my head, the world has been brought to standstill by COVID-19. Strict stay-at-home orders are in place in many states, and self-isolation is the way to best protect family members, friends and members of the community. There are requirements of 6-foot distances if in a public space, and gatherings over a given group size are banned. Non-essential businesses have been shut down, and necessities are scarce at grocery stores. Schools and universities are closed or have moved to online learning for the time being, and virtual meetings are an essential. It’s an unreal time to live through. The self-isolation is uncomfortable, but necessary to slow the spread of the virus and prevent medical systems from being further overwhelmed.

But it helps no one to turn on our neighbors. Yet, unfortunately, an “us vs. them” mentality has led to Asian Americans being attacked out of misdirected and ill-informed anger. We must do our best to stop the spread of this dangerous mentality. Let’s begin by remembering Su-an’s song and how it reminds us all of our shared humanity.

So, if you enjoy zombie movies with intense and creative action sequences and well-developed characters and need a distraction from the quarantine within your home, check out “Train to Busan.” Hoping that everyone stays safe.

P.S., Here are some more interesting parallels between the movie and the COVID-19 outbreak:

Both SARS-CoV-2 and the zombie virus originated in animals. SARS-CoV-2 has never seen before in humans, which leads to an inability of the body to fight off the unfamiliar pathogen. In the case of “Train to Busan,” the virus also starts from animal to person, with a deer being the first zombie seen onscreen, days before the infamous train trip to Busan. Some of the most notorious viruses also took that trek from animal to human: the  Ebola virus came from bats, and Zika originated with mosquitoes.  

Both SARS-CoV-2 and the zombie virus are highly infectious. We’ve already seen how the zombie virus spread quickly throughout the train. So how do viruses spread in real life? In the case of SARS-CoV-2, the virus spreads mainly through the air, such as the cough from an infected individual. Wearing face masks is more common in Asia as a response to flu epidemics and air pollution, but since the coronavirus outbreak, face masks have been selling more in the West as well. Recently, the CDC has begun recommending that people wear them if they go out. That recommendation is meant to help stop asymptomatic but infected people from spreading the germs and not as an endorsement that wearing the mask will keep you from getting sick. The virus can also spread through personal contact. That’s why it’s important to wash your hands diligently, disinfect surfaces and not touch the face. 

Both the current outbreak and the film can teach us something about the basic reproductive number and the importance of vaccines. A basic reproductive number, or R0, is used to describe how fast the virus can spread in an unimmunized population. In this scenario, no one has vaccines or a bolstered immune system. Some articles state the R0 of COVID19 to be around 3.1, or that one infected person has the potential to spread to 3 other persons. In “Train to Busan,” the R0 had to be extremely high, as the virus spread exponentially. It was not long in the movie before there was a stampede of fast-moving zombies.There was not a vaccine in the movie, so if the virus infected an individual, there was no chance for the immune system to defend against the pathogen before the person died and became a zombie. With SARS-CoV-2, scientists are working on a vaccine as we speak to help bolster immune systems against the virus.