To the extent that stigma is a negative attribute, I do not detect, from reading and listening to the US and international news, an apparent social stigma attached to being ill with COVID 19.I am following this issue closely for a paper that I am working on. There may be a separation between those > 60 years old, the millennials, even younger generation, and other segments of the population in terms of the perception of their individual risk of infection. As to the risk of death, given the infection, I suspect that those > 60 years old are much more sensitive than younger strata. Stigma, however, is not clear to me from personal observation in California and Hawaii. Hope this helps with dealing with your important question.
The question raised my attention, because some recovered patient reflect that they are stigmatized by their neighborhood upon returning home from the hospital. I am not sure if this situation is generally happening around the world. It's good to hear your experience in US
Sunny Chi Lik Au, the treatments and reactions are logical and reasonable. what I abhorred about the situation is the bullying directed towards Asians, especially Chinese in accusing them to be the source and cause of the covid19.
In fact it is not a stigma but what must be abominated is some goverments deceleration in confronting this virus earlier as some European Countries did.
Unfortunately, there definitely are multiple examples of stigmatisation around COVID-19. Just two examples from around the world but there are many more: a Kenyan man was beaten to death as people thought he may have COVID-19 (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8129791/Kenyan-man-beaten-death-mob-youths-suspected-having-coronavirus.html), Indian health workers were spat on as they work with people who have COVID-19 (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-52151141). It's important to follow preventative measures, and it is equally important to ensure that this doesnt entice fear and blaming.
IT'S the perfect condition that has the perfect set of comnon symptoms that has undetectable findings at times but has potential of dire consequences. Many with an anxiety disorder or propensity will have difficulty functioning
So many news heard so far regarding the matter. Stigma against those returning from foreign countries, those on quarantine, healthworkers treating covid etc.
Some are attempting suicide under quarantine.
Many are not allowed to even enter their home after return from foreign countries or other states.
There were issues regarding cremation of a person died due to covid by the local people.
Some health workers were asked to leave their rented home by house owners.
Crandall and Moriarty (1995) might give some insight into this. Perceived stigma of an illness likely depends on a variety of factors that include the perceived severity of the illness, and perceptions as to whether the illness was caused by an individual's behavior. Examining this empirically seems like an important step for COVID research. Given that many COVID-19 cases are asymptomatic and often do not require hospitalization, it may also be helpful to examine the literature surrounding concealable stigma as well (e.g., Smart & Wegner, 1999; Quinn & Earnshaw, 2013).