31 March 2020updated 09 Sep 2021 3:32pm

Coronavirus and the politics of disgust

Thinking about disease has been shown to have profound effects on our behaviour. What does this mean for politics after the pandemic?

By André Spicer

TOPSHOT - Biscuits featuring a face with a face mask are displayed at the bakery Schuerener Backparadies in Dortmund, western Germany, on March 26, 2020 amidst the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19. - The bakery of owner Tim Kortuem sells toilet paper cakes, which are spread with cream and wrapped in fondant. The sweet toilet paper rolls have become a 'bestseller' during the Corona crisis. (Photo by Ina FASSBENDER / AFP) (Photo by INA FASSBENDER/AFP via Getty Images)

A man in his early twenties walks into a public toilet in Los Angeles. He heads for a cubicle, kicking it open. The camera follows as he kneels, lowers his head and begins to lick the toilet bowl. He looks up at the camera, smiles, and says “coronavirus challenge” before licking the bowl again.

On the social media platform TikTok, this young man calls himself Larz. He posted the 13-second video on 20 March, the day that the global death toll from Covid-19 passed 10,000. It was accompanied by the message, “RT to spread awareness of coronavirus”, with a smiley face. Two days later, Larz posted another video of himself, this time from a hospital bed. “I tested positive for coronavirus”, the post read, with a crying face added.