Few victims of public shame have become as famous as Cronk, the New Brunswicker who contracted the coronavirus on a business trip.
He initially had no symptoms, so he was not forced to isolate himself on return, he said.
Nine days later, he developed some symptoms and the test was positive for the coronavirus, so the health department started tracking the contact. After local media published a story about a frustrated store owner who did not believe his team had been exposed to the virus, Mr. Cronk feared being singled out as the source of the exposure, knowing he had visited the store.
“São João is very small,” he said. “I knew it was only a matter of time before my name was spoken.” He then approached the CBC network to “clarify the story, before the conversation spreads.” To his knowledge, none of his contacts were positive and he was never fined by the police for violating public emergency regulations, he said.
Then, a video clip from his Instagram account promoting his cannabis supply business, “Cronk Grow Nutrients”, circulated on Twitter. In it, Cronk said he “can’t taste anything right now” and detailed the many trips he made that month. Many assumed that he was spreading the virus consciously and carelessly.
The optics and timing were appalling: as memes multiplied, the provincial chief doctor announced an increase in cases and the prime minister declared a crackdown on Christmas travel and meetings. Online, Mr. Cronk was considered to be New Brunswick’s chief infectious.
“There was no lesson to be learned,” said Mr. Cronk. “I was ashamed for no reason.”
Historically, stigma and shame have faithfully followed pandemics, said David Barnes, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania who studies the history of infectious diseases and epidemics. During the plague in Europe, the Jewish people became a convenient scapegoat. During the cholera epidemic in Britain in the 19th century, the Irish working class was blamed, Barnes said.
More recently, gays and Haitians have been stigmatized during the AIDS epidemic in the United States.
“We feel safer and superior by associating illness with people who are not like us, who do things we don’t do or who come from places other than our own,” said Mr. Barnes. “We shouldn’t be surprised.”