Nikhil Bhaskar
Coronavirus or the ensuing COVID-19 disease has taken thousands of human lives and infected lakhs of others. The virus still continues its infestation leaving a hard row to hoe for the whole world. It is no more just an epidemic outbreak in the corner of the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared COVID-19 as a global pandemic, in view of the skyrocketing positive cases and the pace of its spread across the world.
As the number of casualties rises on a daily basis, ruling political systems across the world are being looked upon on how they’ve been handling this unprecedented crisis.
The alarming count mainly concerns the middle-class and the poor since it mainly affects their lives than the upper sections of the society. This crucial moment gives us a chance to analyse the approaches of the world’s two political systems from an angle of sheer humanity.
What policies and basic value systems are they adopting to respond to this catastrophe? What are the priorities for them in this endeavour? How and whom do the actions that are based on these policies, impact? This pandemic leaves us with many parameters and aspects to compare and raise many such questions. Deadly viruses like corona are a direct threat to the existence of the human race. Identifying people with confirmed viral infection is the foremost and critical step in breaking the chain of its progression.
Administrations’ failure to handle this situation in the initial days of the outbreak is a clear indication that they are not well equipped to fight a pandemic of this magnitude. Even at this eleventh hour, only a few thousands have been tested in the US, the so-called most powerful capitalist country in the world. Many are in line or being sent back home despite explicit symptoms. On the other hand, as per a WHO report, China is equipped to test about 1.6 million people every week.
Why is there such a drastic difference between two major economic forces, even in a crucial situation like this? A system that sets to prevail private profit over public health is the culprit. Llab testing and treatment in China have been free of cost from day one. At the same time, as of this moment, the US Congress has not taken any decision to make the same free in their country. Healthcare there depends entirely on the mercy of private insurance companies, the majority of which have already declared that at extreme situations tests could be made free but not medical treatment. This is the condition of people living under insurance coverage. There are millions out there in America left out of insurance coverage and who can not afford expensive healthcare – and a major chunk of this group is homeless.
Given the high costs of lab testing, who will be able to sign up for these tests? Even if some can, how can they afford medical treatment?
Every hospital and insurance company should be mandated to ensure that all their necessary tests and treatments are made available to the public free of cost. Only then will those unable to afford expensive healthcare be able to undergo testing and treatment.
Deficiency of public health care systems in the capitalistic world is a huge issue, but it does not end there. Governments are talking about the ‘work from home’ option, but this possibility is very limited to certain jobs. It is important to implement the option of paid ‘sick leaves’ as a policy during epidemics. If such a step is not taken, workers, who may be virus-carriers too, will keep flowing to offices and factories. They cannot be blamed, for there must be no other way for them to maintain their day-to-day life.
Educational institutes are closing their doors without warnings. In New York City alone, more than 1 lakh students depend on their schools for their mid-day meals, dormitories and college hostels for their stay. A vast majority of them are now homeless. Where will they go and how will they eat when institutes are closed abruptly? If the government does not make any arrangement for their food and accommodation, the day the US will go into starvation is not so far.
Even Harvard University, which has a revenue of about 38 billion, is asking their students to depend on alumni associations and other student networks for their stay as college hostels and dormitories have been shut down.
These are just a few explicit examples of the frantic impacts of this pandemic. Repercussions are going to be more serious in very vulnerable communities like amidst prisoners etc. Prisons which are already overcrowded in the US do not have adequate facilities. There is a scarcity of soaps and hand sanitizers in the prisons. The capitalist giant seems not to have thought about all these aspects or have wilfully shut their eyes towards such issues.
It is not accidental that a country who keeps a consistent budget for bombing crowded cities across the world, fails to put systems in place to address these vital issues. Rather, it is their natural approach to give the least priority to public health and humanity.
We have seen how determined China has been in curbing the spread of COVID-19 within their country and most importantly, even in the world. Apart from free lab tests and treatment, they also build multi storey hospitals with modern facilities in record pace at all epicentres. This is apart from the hospitals that were already at work in these places. A significant number of doctors and nurses were appointed in these hospitals. Even armed-force reserve doctors were utilized efficiently.
Basic necessities like electricity, internet, and heating services were provided free of cost for all the quarantined. The provision of paid sick-leaves was declared as an official policy. Every factory in the country was instructed to produce essential commodities and medical equipment. In fact, those who could work from home too were trained to produce such indispensable things. Workers from other jobs were reallocated to avail the most necessary things. This was a clever approach, not only because it ensured the availability of necessary stuff round the clock, but also helped every worker to maintain their salaries during these desperate days.
China almost succeeded in its endeavour to wipe out this lethal virus from all its epicentres in the country, by educating people on physical distancing and putting both infected and suspected people under central quarantine. Now they are helping the world with a high quantum of medical equipment and medical experts. Videos of the emotional reaction of heads of some European Union countries to China’s help and the contrasting cold silence of fellow European countries are still ‘viral’ on social media.
Cuba
The basic value that encouraged China to act in a humanitarian way is also the one followed by Cuba and Vietnam too. Cuba is one of the very few countries to have controlled the spread of this pandemic in their country. They too have sent their health care professionals across the world. Cuban recombinant human alfa 2b was one of the 30 medicines chosen in China to counter the pandemic caused by coronavirus. Cuba has been sending this medicine to all those countries who’ve been requesting it. The distribution of all major necessary commodities is already being controlled by the Cuban government and now they have declared a significant level of tax exemption as well.
Kerala
The Indian state of Kerala is also fighting coronavirus by developing their policies and deciding on priorities, all based on the same value system. The Left government of the state has been bearing the cost of lab tests and treatment. Isolation centres are of world class standards. A wide package of Rs. 2 billion has been declared exclusively for fighting this pandemic, by the government.
We should note that almost every other country, now fighting coronavirus, received sufficient warnings and time than China did. However, they spent their precious weeks criticising China for implementing hard measures like central quarantine. Most news channels across the world consistently used words like “draconian”, “authoritarian” to describe China’s measures to curb the spread of the pandemic. It was too late when they realized the gravity of the situation which in fact, needed such serious measures to counter it.
What this pandemic reveals is the true colour of the administrations controlled by two different politico-economic systems. While one prioritizes public health and humanity, the other seeks profit even on death rows. The magnitude of the repercussions of this greed for profit, is yet to be known.
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