US COVID-19 Response

US COVID-19 Response

Introduction

COVID-19 is a contagious disease brought about by a newly revealed virus known as the coronavirus. Those infected with COVID-19 virus often experience mild to severe respiratory disorders and can recover even with no special medical attention. Individuals who are age sixty and above, as well as those having other medical illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, severe respiratory disease, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer, are more susceptible to the coronavirus and other infections as well. Having enough information about the virus is the best way of preventing and controlling it.

Many world governments are still trying to prevent and control the spread of this virus among their citizens and foreigners. This essay is will argue for and against the United States government response in handling the COVID-19 virus. The government has positively to the task of controlling the spread of the virus but has also neglected some essential measures. Positive or negative response emanates from what the government or people do after knowing its root of origin, effects as well as how it is passed from one individual to another, including the g the basic knowledge that protection of oneself and others against this pandemic is by regular washing of hands with soup and running water, sanitizing hands and avoiding touching ones face.

Arguments for

One of the ways in which the US government responded well to the COVID-19 pandemic was through the formation of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, chaired by the Vice President Mike Pence, whose main agenda is to control and prevent the spread of the virus. In addition to this, the federal government declared a state of emergency on the same in order to warn all Americans against the pandemic and also seek help from international organizations such as the World Health Organization and the World Bank. The government started the necessary legal, regulatory as well as executive procedures in the bid to control the spread of the virus. China being the country of origin of the virus, foreign nationals who had travelled there were banned from going to the US.

After the President Trump’s declaration of national emergency, the government holistically begun to conduct mass testing and increased the number of medical equipment in dealing with the virus. Additionally, it cautioned all its residents against social behaviors which would lead to faster spread of the COVID-19 disease. There were additional travel rules and regulations especially on foreigners coming from Europe since that was the place of origin of the deadly virus. The government hastily gave a go-ahead for commercial tests and soon people became serious with testing, consequently revealing the spread of the virus.

Even after the provision of swift diagnostic tests as well as coming up with other criteria for helping coronavirus victims under quarantine like paid leave, the government sensitized all Americans on the importance of social distancing which in turn reduced the rate at which the virus spread across the country. The government ensured that there were no more large crowds, like concerts and games were called of. Other measures were also put in place such as inter-state travel restrictions and finally a lock down.

In response to the global spread of the coronavirus, the United States government has also come up with several interventions and practices. For instance, the global study of the virus by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in turn helps communities to locally act and adhere to the measures. Additionally, the government through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid has also put up guidelines for patients as well as the providers.

Arguments Against

Despite their superiority, currently the US is registering more cases than any other country. Inasmuch as the governments, federal and state, have made positive attempts to contain the spread of the virus, they also have their own shortcomings or failures which would have brought about a great changed if they were to be taken into consideration. For example, the measures and criteria of handling the virus have been politicized. The government and its opposition have been hurling blame games at each other and unmasking each other’s imperfections on the matter instead of working together. Viruses are impartial to politics therefore will infect and affect individuals regardless of their political affiliations. Politicizing the COVID-19 disease cannot offer credible solutions. Due to this antagonistic nature between the government and its critics, there has been frequent misunderstandings and misinformation of the public with each side trying to win the trust of Americans. This has brought confusion on which group to believe to be telling the truth or giving facts on issue.

There have been also other factors that negatively impacted the country. For instance, at the onset of the virus, there was a notable ignorance and poor judgment and response. With the knowledge of the original spread of this pandemic in Wuhan, China, the US government openly regarded the virus as an insignificant threat which was within its control locally, consistently informing people that the chances of the virus hitting America was very minimal, and now the country is the epicenter of the virus with hundreds of thousands of cases and thousands of deaths.

The country portrayed their ignorance as well when they neglected precautionary measures while they were very much aware that by mid January the coronavirus had already registered cases in other countries as well, such as Japan and South Korea. Despite the spread past China, government through the CDC, was only screening travelers from China, neglecting those from other countries including Thailand where the virus had already taken root. By the end of January, the US had already several cases of the virus only after a few tests.

Another form of ignorance by the US government in response to the Coronavirus spread is that when WHO sent tests to laboratories in many countries, the US categorically refused to take the kits, arguing that they had enough of them. The state government and CDC opted to fully depend on locally generated Tests, as they were used to in the past, like during the 9-11 and the H1N1 pandemic. Barely a week had passed when they noted a fault in one of the components in the kits domestically developed by the CDC. This consequently put to a stop all the laboratory operations before they eventually began to use the WHO provide packages as they revisit theirs. Besides, there has been a lack of readily available tests for all Americans. This implies that one can never get tested whenever they want and at their own time. There are limitations in the testing process, not to mention discrimination and class differences whereby some Americans are given an upper hand both in the testing and treatment or special care regarding the coronavirus pandemic. Random testing should be conducted across the country irrespective of class, race or immigration status for the spread of the virus knows no boundaries, affecting both the rich and the poor, those respected and those looked down upon. Lack of enough testing or test kits may lead to a faster and broader spread of the virus since the victims will not have been isolated or quarantined on time to curb the spread.

Conclusion

Generally, the world governments in collaboration with the World Health Organization have put up enough effort to inform people on the nature of the virus and how it spreads as well as the measures to undertake in order to curb its spread. Now it is clear almost to everyone that the virus is mainly transmitted through coming into contact with the saliva or nasal discharge from an infected individual. Globally, people are advised to practice proper hygienic standards and etiquette such as covering your mouth with a disposal cloth or tissue when coughing or coughing into your flexed elbow. Sneezing into a disposable material as well as regular washing of hands with soap and running water is also encouraged in order to control and prevent the spread of the corona virus. Currently, there is no known cure or vaccine against this viral disease, however, scientists are doing their level best to come up with a lasting solution as WHO continues to give updates and clinical findings in relation to the Covid-19.

Coming up with more strict immigration rules have has also made the target group to be silent and less responsive. For instance, due to the President’s negative utterances concerning immigrants and existing harsh immigration laws, a good number of immigrants fear going to a health institution to get tested or evaluated for the virus.

Again, since this is a global pandemic which should be taken with great seriousness it deserves, the government and the country as a whole should unite in order to fight and contain the virus. In one of his public speeches, president Trump directed the state governments to provide solutions and help, adding that they should not depend on the federal government for help. The federal government, in this case, has failed to realize the importance of unity in curbing the spread of the virus.