Public Health
What is a program being pushed for as the flaws of healthcare coverage and how it disproportionally targets those with lower incomes are exposed?
Medicare for All
How have politicians delayed COVID response for their own benefit?
Multiple politicians, including Dianne Feinstein, have been accused of insider trading, selling stocks prior to announcing dangers and safety regulations to combat the virus. Other politicians, including Donald Trump, have also repeatedly downplayed the effects of the virus in the past, in efforts to help the economy while leaving people at risk.
What efforts have been made to financially support Americans?
Stimulus checks of $1200 per adult and $500 per child have been issued, as well as increased unemployment. However, many are ineligible for these benefits, and for many receiving them, it just isn't enough. For those that had had lower paying, minimum-wage jobs, savings are little to none, forcing them to spread one time stimulus checks over the span of months, which is unreasonable.
What country has handled COVID incredibly well?
Vietnam has taken COVID seriously since the first case, quarantining those who had any foreign contact from the first signs of a threat, and blocking flights. Their timely and effective response is thanks to their experience with prior pandemics, and their quarantine had started in the beginning of February.
How has social distancing negatively affected mental health?
The isolation as a cause of social distancing requires removes the support system that many have. Feelings of loneliness increase, and access to mental health can be more difficult, as online or phone therapy isn't always an option. Additionally, some people have to quarantine with abusive/toxic family members or partners, with little opportunity for reprieve.
How have foreign policy and COVID affected each other?
In Vietnam, response to the pandemic is motivated in part by distrust of China and the way they have historically failed Vietnam, a partial motivation for their somewhat extreme reaction. In the United States, President Trump has used sinophobic rhetoric, calling coronavirus the "Chinese virus" and using it to pass trade restrictions when no real protections were being passed.
With COVID becoming a huge source of profit, who is on their way to becoming a trillionare?
While workers at Amazon have remained under inhumane conditions and pay, and Amazon headquarters have contributed to gentrification, Jeff Bezos has gained huge amounts of capital.
How has quarantining been detrimental to accessibility?
To students that rely on school or libraries for access to internet, schoolwork, now based primarily online, school becomes incredibly difficult. For those with learning disabilities like ADHD who already struggle with school, a lack of structure and support makes learning essentially impossible.
How does the current situation complicate responses to natural disasters?
Finding appropriate shelter during things like floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes is hard enough. But with the dangers of people being so close to each other, when emergency shelter is known for already being overcrowded, these places that are supposed to be safe become a incubator for the virus.
How have past decisions worsened the current response to the pandemic?
Public hospitals tend to be underfunded, and healthcare workers have faced cuts to their pay, as well as lack of access to proper protection. Development of a vaccine, proper cure, and proper response have all been hampered given the disbandment of the pandemic response team in 2018.
How has COVID-19 affected employment?
The pandemic has pushed unemployment rates to the highest they have been since the Great Depression. As of late April, around 26.4 million Americans have applied for unemployment, with claims reaching an over 1000% increase.
How has quarantining improved accessibility?
Moving learning and lectures online, as well as other events such as city halls has allowed more people to attend them, whether that be because of location or a disability.