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With so much time on our hands, it is only natural that many
have turned to social platforms to offer their two cents on how our governments
are responding to the COVID – 19 crisis.
So let me chime in, with my nickels worth of observations.
So let me chime in, with my nickels worth of observations.
I have nothing but praise for the way our governments has
handled this difficult, unprecedented situation. In fact, I believe Canadian
leaders of all political stripes have done an admirable job of maintaining a
balance between trying to protect public health and the economy. This is evident if you dare enter the arena
of social media. Here you have people posting that governments are overreacting,
causing too much economic damage to our economy and impoverished. While the
other side believes government is not doing enough to protect the public health
of the most vulnerable. To tick both sides
off governments have obviously achieved some sort of a middle ground.
Unfortunately, right now the biggest challenge to our
governments is that they are playing a zero sum game, where one option chosen to
protect some is at the expense of exposing others. The crux of this pandemic is trying to make
sure we are able to slow down the spread of the disease so we don't overwhelm
the finite resources of our health care system. To do so we have employed
social distancing as our main weapon of choice. How effective this measure will be has yet to
be determined. What we do know is that the more we restrict
the movement of people – the more damage we do to the economy.
It doesn't have to be, nor should it be the way going
forward. With globalization, another new virus will blow our way. This is not a
question of if, but when. So what have we learned thus far, that we can do to
prepare for this new normal?
What we will need to address is the ability of our
healthcare system to be scaled up quickly to face an onslaught of
patients. Healthcare must be thought of
as our new military, ready and prepared to act when called upon. Fully stacked hospitals must be built that
far outnumber the demand needed in normal times. If this is indeed a war, we need an arsenal
of resources that can be brought on-line quickly to meet demand.
Building excess capacity is not enough of course, if you don’t
have enough trained soldiers – our front line healthcare providers. Going forward we should follow the military
model, and provide free education to anyone that chooses study in a variety of
medical fields. Since there are only so
many jobs to go around during normal times, we would need them on call like the
army reserves. In order to qualify for
free tuition and other financial support they would need to submit to on –
going training to keep their skills up to date.
With a stockpile of health care resources in place the need
to flatten curve is not as paramount and the economic damage of social
distancing can be lessened. That said,
the need to shut down regions or sectors of our economy will still be a
valuable tool in stopping the spread of contagious diseases.
To alleviate the pain caused by these necessary shut downs guaranteed
income programs must be adopted. Before
COVID – 19 this idea was beginning to gain traction. What the program does is replace all the
various social assistance and government payment programs into one consistent
income stream for Canadians. No need to
apply for EI, loans and assistance when the next pandemic hits. With guaranteed income in place pockets won’t
be empty when workers are laid off for social distancing.
Paying for these programs will require a revamping of our
tax system. If more revenue is needed we must ensure it is done equitably.
Taxing of financial transactions as currently proposed in the European Union,
would be an excellent way to meet both objectives.
Depending on how long social distance restrictions are kept
in place, many organic changes will take place that will deter future
contagion. E-commerce – already taking
over will become the norm with more deliveries as we move to a cashless
society. E-learning once shunned by
educators, will be embraced as practical way to achieve distance learning. Many employees now working at home will
maintain that arrangement. We will still
get together, but to socialize, not to work as we once did.
Our leaders right now are trying to do their best to handle
this crisis, with the hand they’ve been dealt – limited healthcare resources,
and a society unprepared to deal with the financial loss it is causing. They are doing an admirable job!
Instead of critiquing the current response, let’s get behind
it and come together. When this is over and it will be over in time we can then
push for needed reforms to prepare for the next pandemic.
If we don’t do this, then that will be something to tweet
about.
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