I've kept it a pretty good secret as a blogger up til now, but it's time to throw off the mask and reveal that I'm actually an expert in public health and disease control.* That's how I make my living in meat-space. As such, I think it imperative that I share my knowledge and wisdom with my readers so that they can effectively demand the proper response from their elected officials.
1. Suspend all rental and mortgage payments, effective immediately, for the next two months (at least.) This includes interest payments on mortgages. The banks have had annual profits in excess of $40 BILLION for YEARS now. Why should they expect to profit from this crisis while everyone else is expected to take a loss?
2. Provide $2,000 to every adult for food and basic necessities. (Stop talking about "keeping the economy moving or getting the economy moving." People aren't out there buying shit because they're supposed to be staying at home!)
3. Implement war-time level taxation on the wealthy to pay for everything during this crisis. The wealthy have, for years, had more money than they knew what to productively do with. Don't place the burden for paying for this crisis on the backs of ordinary Canadians.
4. Let the private-sector oil industry collapse and buy it up afterwards. We already know that they're leaving us the bill for the BILLIONS in cleaning up after them. Why shovel billions into their bank accounts just to allow them to continue to fleece us?
5. Order the production of thousands of new ventilators and subsidize the re-tooling necessary for every manufacturer with the capability of doing so.
6. Do the same thing with testing capacity. Implement total lock-downs in sections of the country where teams can test everyone within a 24-hour period. Create the capacity to deliver the results of these tests as quickly as possible. Everyone who tests negative can return to voluntary social distancing.
7. Prevent unnecessary travel between cities and towns.
8. Devote all available resources to the production of masks, gloves, surgical gowns, etc., for hospitals and clinics dealing with the virus.
9. Train people to perform the simpler tasks required to deal with the virus. (This includes administering tests/conducting the tests/scrubbing down hospitals/emergency clinics/etc.)
That's all I can think of for now.
*(Of course I'm not.)
2 comments:
Hey Thwap, I've been reading your posts for years and did not know that about you. I too work on the fringes of public health albeit from a different point of view and many years in OH &S. Your summary hits the nail on the head- especially the idea of total local lockdowns and mass testing- its the only way we'll really know the extent of this, the hit and miss is only going to prolong the inevitable as the curve flattening will loosen restrictions and voila another outbreak. Fortunately we're no going to get the cruel shitstorm and mass negligent homicide occurring in real time in the US with the cruelly unfit unstable huckster of a president. Keep up the good work my friend.
Tim,
I hate to disappoint you but you missed my asterisk. Look at the bottom under the poster. I reveal that I'm not a public health expert. It's gratifying that an actual expert thought I made sense though.
Given the high probability that this crisis will return in the fall I think it high time we ensure our societies AT LEAST store up the resources to deal with it over the summer.
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