ABSTRACT
This article examines the role of pandemics and viruses in cultural perceptions of Antarctica over the past century. In the popular imagination, Antarctica has often been framed as a place of purity, refuge, and isolation. In a series of fiction and screen texts from the nine-teenth century to the present, viruses feature prominently. The texts fall into two categories: narratives in which Antarctica is the sole source of safety in a pandemic-ravaged world and those in which a virus (or another form of contagion) is discovered within the continent itself and needs to be contained. Viruses in these texts are not only literal but also metaphorical, tak-ing the form of any kind of threatening infection, and as such are linked to texts in which Ant-arctic purity is discursively connected to racial and gendered exclusivity. Based on this compar-ison, the article argues that ideas of containment and contagion can have political connotations in an Antarctic context, to the extent that they are applied to particular groups of people in order to position them as "alien" to the Antarctic environment. The authors show that the re-cent media construction of Antarctica during COVID-19 needs to be understood against this dis-turbing aspect of the Antarctic imaginary, and also that narratives of Antarctic purity are imag-inatively linked to both geopolitical exclusions and the melting of Antarctic ice.
ABSTRACT
This article examines the role of pandemics and viruses in cultural perceptions of Antarctica over the past century. In the popular imagination, Antarctica has often been framed as a place of purity, refuge, and isolation. In a series of fiction and screen texts from the nineteenth century to the present, viruses feature prominently. The texts fall into two categories: narratives in which Antarctica is the sole source of safety in a pandemic-ravaged world and those in which a virus (or another form of contagion) is discovered within the continent itself and needs to be contained. Viruses in these texts are not only literal but also metaphorical, taking the form of any kind of threatening infection, and as such are linked to texts in which Antarctic purity is discursively connected to racial and gendered exclusivity. Based on this comparison, the article argues that ideas of containment and contagion can have political connotations in an Antarctic context, to the extent that they are applied to particular groups of people in order to position them as "alien"to the Antarctic environment. The authors show that the recent media construction of Antarctica during COVID-19 needs to be understood against this disturbing aspect of the Antarctic imaginary, and also that narratives of Antarctic purity are imaginatively linked to both geopolitical exclusions and the melting of Antarctic ice. © 2023 Elizabeth Leane, Charne Lavery, and Meredith Nash.
ABSTRACT
Background/AimsTelemedicine has not previously been a regular part of routinerheumatology services.Our department adopted telephone clinicsduring the COVID-19 pandemic. We assessed patient satisfaction byconducting a feedback survey. Our aim was to obtain a patientperspective on remote consultations and on preferred future follow upoptions including video or face-to-face consultations.MethodsThe cohort included 160 rheumatology patients who had a telephoneconsultation between May and mid-June 2020. All patients consentedto receive a further phone call by a different member of the team.Patients had to answer a questionnaire about recent consultation andto rate this on a scale of 1-5. Other questions included whether all theirqueries were answered;clear action plan made;perceived benefits ordisadvantages of telephone consultation;and views about futurefollow up and any additional comments.Results71.9% of 160 patients were females while 28.1 % males. Mean age58.6 yrs. More than half of the patients (60.6%) had a diagnosis ofinflammatory arthritis, followed by connective tissue disease (19.3%), other diagnosis (8.1% ) & vasculitis (5.6%). 94.4 % of the patients inthis study were return appointments-the remainder new. Feedbackresults revealed 92.5% patients were satisfied with their consultationwith mean score of 4.3/5 (5=best, 1= worst). More than 80% agreedthat all their queries were answered and a clear action plan wasformed during consultation. However , 71.2% would want a face toface consultation if given choice while 54 % happy to have furtherfollow up over the phone. 65% of patients preferred not to have videoconsultation. Subgroup analysis showed that majority of patients whowould accept video consultation were aged between 30-39. Mostcommon benefits described were noted to be convenience;reducedtime of work;travel time and safety during pandemic, whilst difficulty indescribing symptoms;hearing problems;and severity of disease weredisadvantages raised, but numbers were small in our cohort.ConclusionTelephone clinics were the mainstay during the COVID-19 pandemic.Thelarge majority of the rheumatology patients in our cohort were highlysatisfied with this form of consultation. However, interestingly themajority (71% ) would still prefer face-to-face consultation as follow up inthe future. Regular follow up in carefully selected patient groups cansuccessfully be performed by telephone clinics with good patientsatisfaction. This would help increase capacity within the clinic setting.