Special Edition: What choices do we have in the COVID-19 pandemic?
"We should prepare, not because we may feel personally at risk, but so that we can help lessen the risk for everyone." Zeynep Tufekci for Scientific American
With the number of coronavirus cases in the United States rapidly growing, there are critical steps we can take--legislatively and personally--to “flatten the curve,” i.e. pace the number of critically ill people over a longer period of time, so that medical systems are able to give every sick person the best care and the best chance of survival. - Amber & Katie
Source: How Canceled Events And Self-quarantines Save Lives, In One Chart | VOX
COVID-19 is a new, highly transmissible virus that is currently spreading across the globe. With over 125,000 confirmed cases and more than 4,000 deaths, the WHO officially declared it a pandemic yesterday.
The biggest danger with COVID-19 is that it spreads so rapidly, it quickly overwhelms medical systems. In Italy, the number of cases leapt from 2,000 to 10,000 in a week, leaving the hardest hit regions of the country without enough medical professionals, beds, or ventilators to treat all the critical patients flooding hospitals. They’ve implemented a form of triage normally seen in war, where those with the best chance of survival are given priority for treatment and the most severely ill are given little treatment at all. It’s a horrifying choice for medical professionals, but when you don’t have enough resources to go around, these are the choices they’re left with.
In the U.S. we have 1,301 confirmed cases and 37 deaths. We can guess that the actual number of cases is perhaps as high as 29,000. But we don’t really know because of our mind-bogglingly low rates of testing. Despite the Administration’s reassurance that a million tests are available for anyone who exhibits symptoms, as of Monday, only 4,384 people had been tested for COVID-19 in the U.S. By contrast, at a similar point in the outbreak in South Korea, more than 100,000 people had been tested. Across the country, medical professionals and people who believe they have COVID-19 have been raising the alarm about how tests are being rationed at the federal level.
Should we keep going with the ways the U.S. is an epidemiological nightmare in the making? Well, okay. First, many people don’t have paid sick leave or a social safety net if they need to be out of work, so a lot of people will bring their virus to work with them. Second, without universal health coverage, the cost of testing and treatment will lead ill people to avoid testing and delay treatment, and later will cause bankruptcies as people are unable to pay their medical bills. Third, while school closures are almost certainly critical to slowing the spread of COVID-19, doing so could leave millions of parents unable to work and millions of children either in precarious child care situations or without access to food…or both. Next, the U.S. is also in a decades-long nationwide shortage of medical providers, especially nurses and rural practitioners, who are already over-extended in the best of times. And lastly, our state and local public health agencies are woefully underfunded to begin with.
This is a public health crisis. Our fate depends on the choices we make today. So far, we aren’t making good ones. We need to react smarter, starting yesterday.
House Democrats introduced HR 6201: The Families First Coronavirus Response Act yesterday to attempt to mitigate the impacts of the outbreak on Americans. “The coronavirus is first and foremost a public health crisis, but it also threatens to have significant financial consequences for workers and families,” said Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA).
The bill provides for free COVID-19 testing, paid emergency leave with 14 paid sick days for workers, enhanced unemployment insurance, food security initiatives for groups like students and seniors who may lose access to programs with closures, protections for front-line healthcare workers in infectious environments, increase funding for state Medicaid programs to handle new health spending.
In a press conference today, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) explained: “We are addressing the realities of family life in America. We need to operate not as ‘business as usual.’” However, Republicans are stalling and complaining about process rather than expediting passage.
Call on your congresspeople to immediately pass HR 6201: The Families First Coronavirus Response Act. The U.S. Capitol Switchboard can direct you to your Senator and Representative: (202) 224-3121.
Wash your hands. Here’s CDC guidance on how if you need it.
Disinfect your phone twice a day. Here’s why and how.
Clean the surfaces at your house and workplace the right way.
Adopt “social distancing.” Don’t go into crowded places unnecessarily. Cancel the event. Stay home if you can.
Prepare but don’t hoard. Leave some for your neighbors. (Don’t stockpile masks, for example.)
Check in on your neighbors and family. Check your neighborhood Next Door, listserv or Facebook group for community efforts. The National Council on Aging has tips for making sure Older Adults have what they need.
Follow scientists for real info because the President has swung wildly between lies and denial and ineffectiveness. We suggest Ashish Jha, Director of the Harvard Global Health Institute and Jeremy Konyndyk of Georgetown.
Find out what your local food bank needs to meet this public health emergency. (It’s probably money you can donate online.) Find your local food bank here.
Don’t be racist. (I can’t believe we have to say this, but here we are.) Jason Oliver Chang at the University of Connecticut created a crowdsourced document for resources for institutions, schools and individuals to prevent and fight racism around coronavirus.
Share this bulletin widely!
Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Let us know how you’ve taken action using #LinkedAndLoud.
References
Flatten the Curve | Compiled by Julie McMurry
World Health Organization declares coronavirus a 'pandemic'; Trump restricts travel from Europe | ABC News
How Canceled Events And Self-quarantines Save Lives, In One Chart | VOX
The Extraordinary Decisions Facing Italian Doctors | The Atlantic
Coronavirus: Why You Must Act Now | Medium
Testing in the U.S. | CDC
The Dangerous Delays in U.S. Coronavirus Testing Haven’t Stopped | The Atlantic
'We Are Flying Blind': Lawmakers Fume Amid Lack Of Coronavirus Testing And Answers | CNN
‘We're behind the curve’: U.S. hospitals confront the challenges of large-scale coronavirus testing | Science
Shortage Of Key Components Hampers Coronavirus Testing | LA Times
The Official Coronavirus Numbers Are Wrong and Everyone Knows It | The Atlantic
Many private labs want to do coronavirus tests. But they're still facing obstacles and delays. | NBC News
Incompetence Exacerbated by Malevolence | The Atlantic
Democrats Unveil Measure To Help Communities Impacted By Coronavirus | NPR
Preparing for Coronavirus to Strike the U.S. | Scientific American
Here’s Everything the CDC Wants You to Know About Cleaning Your Home Right Now | Apartment Therapy
Coronavirus Is Past Containment, But America Can Limit Epidemic: Q&A With Former FDA Chief | USA TODAY
Could Coronavirus Kill a Million Americans? | Think Global Health
Cancel Everything | The Atlantic
What the U.S. Can Learn From Taiwan’s Response to Coronavirus | US News
Want To Do Something About Coronavirus? Here Are 5 Ideas. | VOX
Coronavirus: What Older Adults Need to Know | The National Council on Aging
Compassion In The Time Of Coronavirus | The Washington Post
Real-time Coverage: The Coronavirus Outbreak | The New York Times
Coronavirus forecasts are grim: ‘It’s going to get worse’ | The Washington Post
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