Pandemics are often predicted by authors and scientists who have dedicated their careers to researching global crises. Reading books before knowing what is going to happen can be scary, but the really scary part is realizing they were right. The Coronavirus is no exception. These are very scary times to be living in and not knowing when it will get better is horrible. The thought that we live in such an advanced society and not thinking something like this would happen and what to do when it does happen, it is a shock.
A recent article about COVID-19, “How Will the Coronavirus End?” by Ed Yong, discusses many of the things that need to be brought up. For example, the article explains how unready America was even though we had many opportunities to become ready. “Rudderless, blindsided, lethargic, and uncoordinated, America has mishandled the COVID-19 crisis to a substantially worse degree than what every health expert I’ve spoken with had feared[...]The U.S. may end up with the worst outbreak in the industrialized world,” Yong wrote.
Thinking about all the other ways this could have been handled makes us think it did not have to happen this way with so many cases and so many lives taken. If only actions were taken earlier on to try and prevent this tragedy from hitting us so hard.
Because we fell behind in the beginning with not being prepared enough, it is costing us in the long run. Being quarantined for weeks now and not being able to leave our homes without necessity are the steps being taken to prevent further outbreak, but I am not sure how well it is really working. People think they are okay and associate themselves with society even though they could potentially have COVID-19 they are just showing no symptoms because that is how this illness works. This is why it spreads and this is why people need to practice social distancing no matter how silly or annoying it is. This is a serious matter, it is people’s lives we are talking about here. Should we not all be worried about the risks of going out and coming in contact with someone who has it and then bringing it home to our loved ones, because that is my biggest fear.
I work in a pharmacy and I witness first hand all the people coming in for supplies daily, and the now shortage of so many supplies. The struggle to find even just toilet paper is a major task. Not only daily supplies but now hospitals are running out of room for patients and care for them...if we were more prepared for the pandemic we are now facing, would we be in a better place right now? It's hard to say, because after all a lot of our goods come from China, “ The first and most important is to rapidly produce masks, gloves, and other personal protective equipment. If health-care workers can’t stay healthy, the rest of the response will collapse. In some places, stockpiles are already so low that doctors are reusing masks between patients, calling for donations from the public, or sewing their own homemade alternatives [...] Hubei province in China, the epicenter of the pandemic, was also a manufacturing center of medical masks”(Yong).
Coronavirus has hit America so hard and thinking about yet another month of quarantine is annoying, however we just have to stay strong and have faith that we will come out of this stronger than ever. The most we can do as people is spread awareness and keep away from others to protect ourselves and our loved ones.
Works Cited
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/03/how-will-coronavirus-end/608719/
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