When the coronavirus first started wreaking havoc in January, I never thought that it would end up becoming a worldwide problem. I had been convinced that it would remain mostly in China, and with proper care and isolation we would not face an outbreak in the USA. But here we are now, with cases developing all around the world and America is no exception. My family just cancelled our spring break trip due to fears of airline travel. The rest of my family is in China, and my grandparents are bored out of their minds from isolation.
With North Carolina having two confirmed cases, it just seems that it will be a matter of time before every single state is affected by the coronavirus. The USA government does not have the power the Chinese government does in shutting down the entire country, or closing off entire cities. There would be a riot here if they tried that, and there is no possible way to really enforce it anyways. NYC declared a state of emergency as cases reached 89 and DC just declared its first case, both are places that me and my brother need to go to soon. Italy has locked down much of its north and schools have shut down. I just hope that the situation quells itself soon or the horrors will continue.
Then there is the problem of healthcare, and people not being able to afford hospitalization or medication. Especially for the urban poor, they are an extremely vulnerable population because of a long distrust with the medical system. They also are not updated on the latest news because many lack cell phones and reliable service. And it is difficult for them to avoid crowds as many are homeless. If this population is hit, they will suffer the hardest. Every healthcare crisis has always hit those who are poor the most, and this will not change unless we somehow fix the system. I can only hope that the virus spares these people, but they unlike humans don’t discriminate.
Fluffy Cows 