Corona Daily 461: To Spit or Not to Spit

India and China are the world champions when it comes to spitting in public. China’s Deng Xiaoping issued anti-spitting rules in 1980. Despite that, when he met international leaders, he had a spittoon placed near him. During the 2008 Olympics, Beijing tried to run an anti-spitting campaign (unsuccessfully). The Chinese still consider spitting acceptable and essential to clear the throat of dust and grit.

Indian democracy allows free speech and free spitting. Indians chew an exciting combination of tobacco and betel leaf, forcefully spitting out the remnants to splatter roads and walls. Like everything else in India, spitting is colorful.

The novel Corona virus is changing all that. Many Indian states have now imposed fines on spitting. Himachal Pradesh has introduced legislation treating spitting as an attempt to murder. The director of police clarified that if the recipient of the spit becomes infected and dies, the spitter will be charged with murder. Two reasons why nobody is charged so far. One is the masks, and second the unavailability of chewing tobacco.

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In the West, though, there is an epidemic of spitting. In Europe, New Zealand, USA people have been charged spitting on the police, on medical staff, on jailers. In New York jails, spiteful inmates are using it as a weapon, freely coughing and spitting on correction officers.

In the UK alone, several people were arrested and jailed to anything between three and eight months for spitting on the police. The culprits included men and women, Whites and Asians. In Saudi Arabia, a man who spat on the shopping trolley in a mall now faces death. (It seems he is alive only because the Saudis are discussing whether stoning him would be safer than beheading).

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Sport, though dysfunctional, is also affected in a big way. Soccer players spit more often than they score goals. FIFA is considering giving a yellow card to players spitting on the football field.

Cricket will may not have a T20 world cup this year. The sport’s fast bowlers routinely spit on the ball between deliveries. They then rub the saliva to bring shine to the ball in order to swing it. ICC, cricket’s international body, is now considering banning that practice. The ban may put an end to swing bowling.

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While lawmakers, law-enforcers and law-interpreters are busy sending spitters to jail, what are the scientists and health authorities doing?

Testing is known to be critical in this pandemic. The current test sticks a q-tip-like swab deep into your nose or throat, to retrieve a sample of mucus which may or may not contain the virus. This test is invasive and uncomfortable. Also the medical person needs to sit in close proximity to the individual to be tested.

Scientists at Rutgers University have now suggested spit samples instead of throat swabs. On 13 April, America’s Food and Drug Administration granted the spit-tests an accelerated emergency use authorization. If successful, all you have do is: spit a glob of saliva into a cup, close the lid and hand it over. Easier than giving a urine sample.

After declaring spitting a punishable offence, Governments may now have to ask billions to start spitting again.

Ravi