“Viruses do not discriminate”? Reflecting on two pandemics

Abstract

“The first global pandemic in more than 100 years, COVID-19 has spread throughout the world at an unprecedented speed” states an article in the World Economic Forum. However, the same piece explicitly links the current COVID-19 pandemic to HIV/AIDS – another global epidemic that has occured during our lifetime. Many AIDS survivors and members of the queer community have drawn a line between the two virus outbreaks, pointing out both similarities and differences. So why do the authors quoted above in the same piece of writing claim that the situation the COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to is unique in our time? Why is COVID-19 defined as a pandemic while HIV/AIDS is defined as an epidemic in their writing?