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Opinion | Coronavirus in USA: Oh! And now, who can defend us?

2020-04-07T17:49:15.643Z


Rocío Vélez wonders how the USA reached a situation of lack of resources and high-need equipment to deal with the coronavirus, if a few years ago the country had to face SARS and


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Editor's Note: Rocío Vélez is a lawyer with more than 15 years of experience in international marketing, business development and an advocate for environmental issues. Republican strategist. Graduated from the Pontifical University of Puerto Rico with a postgraduate degree in History and Political Science from the Point Park University of Pittsburgh.

(CNN Spanish) - The world is experiencing one of the most worrying health crises that we have experienced in more than a century.

Most countries are paralyzed and following preventive rules to prevent further spread of a pandemic that has left scientists, mathematicians, doctors, and other experts unanswered, without an immediate cure, and begging for contagion curves to decline.

Families quartered in their homes, closed schools, global economies and collapsed stock markets, high unemployment rates, economic stimulus plans and temporary financial bailouts… In short, a virus that has suspended our way of living and coexisting.

In April, the month that International Mother Earth Day is celebrated worldwide, nature seems to have decided to give us strong messages and valuable teachings. Much to the grief over the loss of so many loved ones who have passed away and continue to die daily.

  • Coronavirus April 7, minute by minute: More than 11,000 dead in the US by covid-19

Many face economic pain and loss, which also deserve consternation and social support not only from their governments but also community solidarity and non-governmental organizations.

This health crisis has left more than 10,000 dead and around 350,000 confirmed cases until April 6 in the US.

Cities like New York, New Orleans, Seattle or Detroit have seen a surprising volume of cases; its hospitals and medical personnel cannot cope. The absence of equipment to deal with the emergency has exposed the lack of preparation on the part of local, state, and federal governments.

We wonder how we have come to this situation of lack of resources and high-need equipment such as specialized masks, if in 2002 we were presented with SARS and just 11 years ago we were facing a similar scenario with H1N1. How quickly we forgot!

How did a city as populous as New York, with a gigantic budget and a Department of Health that receives millions of dollars, come to this situation in which essential equipment and respirators are scarce? Where were the financial resources that should have been allocated for health emergencies used?

In the midst of the crisis in New York - the city with the most cases in the United States - the state's governor, Andrew Cuomo, has shown leadership in the media. Even on social media they hail him as a possible presidential candidate or as an alternative to Joe Biden for the Democratic Party.

  • "It's like being in a war zone," is how doctors work in New York
The increase in the cost of medical equipment 4:08

However, it is the governor himself who will have to respond to the state's lack of preparedness and response. In early March, he was still posting on his social media that New York was ready to respond to this virus, which he did not believe was greater than facing an influenza outbreak.

The truth is that, in these times of crisis, states, cities, counties, and the nation expect prompt response and action from their leaders. But they also expect a plan for the future and to know what they have done as leaders.

In the case of Joe Biden, it is expected to know what he did as vice president to prevent such a crisis. Citizens are more vigilant than ever to identify those leaders who can effectively respond to this national emergency and who give tools to face future epidemics.

In the midst of this uncertainty, heroes have shone, officials such as Dr. Deborah Birx, Dr. Anthony Fauci and the thousands of public servants, doctors, nurses, unknown angels, businessmen and workers who give all their effort to get us out of this storm.

Our nation has risen up in times of war, economic collapse, pandemics, and has reinvented itself multiple times.

This crisis will not only bring pain and loss, but also great lessons and a new appreciation for our natural, human and business resources.

But above all, leaders are needed: dedicated men and women to provide a new route with effective and sustainable alternatives.

Leaders in health reforms, so that we do not have to decide between attending to ourselves or carrying a bankruptcy process inflicted by the gigantic medical and hospital costs.

Leaders who do not come inflated with false promises of how the high costs of medicines will go down.

We do not need candidates who come with empty promises offering to take us to times past that we do not need, because those times have brought us to this moment of uncertainty; where false expectations are limited to one or two stimulus plans and a “band aid” that only lasts for two months.

Leaders are needed to meet the challenges of the millions of unemployed who will lose their health insurance coverage. Health insurance premiums could rise up to 40% in 2021 after this crisis and after the high expenses that hospitals have made.

Now more than ever the candidates for the Presidency and the US Congress they will have a theme that predominates or in which they will make their false promises. And that issue is total health reform.

Suddenly Bernie Sanders' radical universal health proposals don't sound so impossible. Oh! And now, who can defend us?". That chorus of the popular children's program El Chapulín Colorado comes from perilla.

covid-19

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2020-04-07

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