Note: This was written as the pandemic first arrived in California. Surprising how much is still true.
The COVID-19 pandemic will probably be impossible to contain once it gains a foothold in the US. There are several factors that make the spread of this virus particularly hard to control in the US:
1. Poor Political Leadership
- Government incompetence, misinformation and inaction
- A shortage of test kits, the delivery of flawed test kits, and bureaucratic delays in performing required tests
- A global shortage of personal protective equipment
2. Bottomline-Driven Healthcare System
- A profit-oriented healthcare system more focused on corporate growth and shareholder returns than preparing for expected emergencies
- The most expensive healthcare in the world that leaves about 30% of the population without care
- A profit-oriented pharmaceutical system, that results in the highest drug costs in the world, leaving many patients to suffer needlessly
3. Anti-Worker Economic Framework
- A “tough it out” work environment in which workers must go to work even when sick, thus spreading disease
- A large number of underinsured and uninsured people who often delay seeing a doctor until it’s to late
- A large number of politically-criminalized residents, who must avoid contacting healthcare providers out of fear of entrapment or deportation
- The largest prison population on earth, and the highest number of prisoners per capita (about 1 in 100, or about 1 of every 40 adults), who are housed in overcrowded centers–ideal breeding grounds for contagion.
The global situation
Li Wenliang, a 34-year-old ophthalmologist at Wuhan Central Hospital, China, shared his observations about a possible new virus on with other physicians in social media. The Chinese government censored his posts, and he was ordered to a police station to sign a confession that he had made “untrue statements”. At least seven others were similarly harassed by the Chinese government over the same facts. Days later, Li Wenliang contracted COVID-19. He died on February 6th. His death sparked widespread criticism within China of the government’s suppression of the courageous whistleblower. The good doctor soon died from the virus.
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