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COVID-19
A new illness has rapidly made its way across the world, since its official discovery on December 31, 2019, in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The disease was simply called “coronavirus” until it was officially given the name Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in February 2020. COVID-19 comes from a large family of coronaviruses. Some of these viruses are zoonotic, being able to spread from animals to humans. Others, are not. Human coronaviruses are common and usually associated non-severe illnesses such as the common cold. COVID-19 has a highly variable effect, ranging from mild to severe depending on a person’s health and age. COVID-19 is a new disease that has not been identified in humans until 2019. This disease is caused from SARS-CoV-2.
Before COVID-19 emerged, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2002-2003, and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in 2012, were the only two other cases of coronaviruses that have been documented. Canada Health Services offers complete informational pages on updates, awareness, symptoms, and many more.
A Wake Up Call For Change
COVID-19 has taken the world by shock and tragedy. Hospitals are overwhelmed, many businesses have been forced to close, supply chains are overworked, and the list goes on. There have been many outbreaks in history: SARS, MERS, Ebola, Zika virus, and H1N1 to name a few. Yet, it only seems to be now that the world is realizing that the way of doing a number of things needs to be changed. COVID-19 is a wake up call for change, but will society listen? Remote working, health, sanitation, diet, manufacturing, and governmental systems — all of these need to be looked at.
Remote Working
Working remotely is when an employee works away from a traditional environment such as an office, through the use of technology. Remote work has risen a lot in recent years as more people and employers continue to discover the tremendous benefits associated with it. The benefits?
- No commute
- Saves Energy
- Environmentally friendly
- Saves costs
- Greater hour flexibility
- Greater work-life balance
- Greater employee retention
- More productivity
- Reduces/eliminates the spread of illnesses such as colds, COVID-19, and others
Despite all the benefits remote working does for the world, many companies still have not embraced it. As a result, millions of vehicles flock to the road contributing to air pollution, congested roads, and noise. Huge buildings take up lots of space, consume lots of energy, materials, and plenty of other resources. Employees, depending on their distance, have less time for themselves due to commuting, weather, and road conditions. As a result, they will be more likely to take sick days, or have peak performance.
With the rapid international spread of COVID-19, it is only now that some companies who have been adamant about remote working, have been forced into it. It should not take the outbreak of a contagious disease to realize that remote working exists. In the age of high-speed Internet, advanced computers, smartphones, and a plethora of applications, there should no longer be an excuse for this. For all jobs where it is possible to work remotely, it needs to become a permanent thing if companies wish to drastically reduce environmental pollution, save energy and costs, and make their employees happier. Resisting remote technology is both unintelligent and dangerous.
Hospitals
There has been many outbreaks in the history of time. Some restricted to specific geographical areas, while others make their way around the globe. Despite all the outbreaks of the pasts, the health infrastructure of many countries have been tragically caught be surprise in the rapid spread of COVID-19. Italy is a notable example of this. Despite being a highly developed, internationally recognized nation for its history music and food, Italy has been suffering the hardest from this. The reason? Not enough hospital beds for its predominantly old population, not enough medical equipment, nor enough doctors to deal with the influx of diseased patients.
The world’s infrastructure should have been prepared for rapid outbreaks. It has already seen them. Why did COVID-19 in particular have to remind the world that many countries should have increased the number of available beds and equipment? As a result of this tardiness, many people, particularly the elderly, have died. Worse, the loved ones in some countries were not even allowed to have ceremonies or say last words, due to strict isolation measures in place.
Sanitation
Soap and water is not a new invention. It has actually been around for millennia. It is not precisely known when people discovered the vital importance of washing the hands with soap and water. An Austro-Hungarian doctor, Ignaz Semmelweis, did propose the practice of washing hands with chlorinated lime solutions in 1847 while working in a Viennese hospital. Between sometime then and now, washing with soap and water has become the universal golden standard for both disease prevention and hygiene. Unfortunately, despite all the past outbreaks around the world, it seems to be only now, with COVID-19 around the globe, that proper hand washing is being internationally emphasized more than ever. Why now? Imagine all the lives that could have been saved if people across the world had consistently washed with soap and water, since the time that golden combination has been discovered. The Centres For Disease Control And Prevention and Health Canada have complete informational pages dedicated to hand hygiene.
Diet
What do mice, rats, bats, monkeys, and bushmeat animals all have in common? All have proven past records of causing horrific illnesses. Plague, HIV, and Ebola are three notable examples. While the source of COVID-19 is still not 100% certain at this time (March 2020) most authorities have traced the genetic connection to bats, pangolins, or possibly other wild mammals. It is time to permanently stop eating wild animals with consistent connections to disease. Not only is it highly unsanitary, it is also bad for the ecosystem and environment. Frequently hunted animals will go extinct from excessive hunting.
There has been efforts to educate people to refrain from bushmeat during the ebola outbreak. Still, many other countries around the world continued eating animals with a consistent history of disease. Since COVID-19 has spread, the subject of wet markets has been revisited once again. Rather than waiting for something to become an international problem, the lesson should have been learned from the past already.
Some people may be quick to point out that proper cooking can kill the viruses. Unfortunately, bushmeat handlers often practice very poor handling, cooking, storing, and disposal of the meats. Even then, there are some diseases that cannot be cooked out. Lytico-bodig disease is an example.
Manufacturing
The world is too heavily dependent on China, as well as other countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines. The route reason for this is bulk, cheap labour. As a result, a number of tech companies with plants in China, faced product delays and shortages of parts when the country was forced to shut its factories down. Outside of viral infections, local manufacturing has the following benefits:
- Easier communication. When a company produces its goods in the same country it is based, this eliminates language barriers.
- Positive press. Manufacturing locally sets a company apart from others, and the “Made In Local Country” is a valuable marketing tool.
- Higher labor standards. Generally speaking, manufacturers in developed countries such as the United States, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, have higher and better-enforced labor standards to protect the well-being of workers.
- Positive perception. Because the public of developed nations tends to perceive their local-made products as being of better quality than products manufactured overseas, they are more willing to pay more for them.
- Faster fulfillment times. By going with a domestic manufacturer, companies experience a quicker turnaround time, than they would sourcing their product overseas.
- Reduced shipping costs. The farther a product has to be shipped, the more expensive it will be.
- Flexible payments options. International manufacturers often accept only a few payment methods. In some cases, they require full upfront payment from foreign clients. Local manufacturing almost always offers flexible financing terms.
- Easier Visiting Businesses who choose a local manufacturer are much better able to see firsthand how a facility operates, and see how their product is produced. This in turn allows it to be easier to catch prohibited practices.
- Greater Intellectual Security. Connecting closely with the easier visiting point, this also allows for decreased intellectual property theft
- Environmentally Friendlier. By making a product on the same soil as its domestic market, this reduces excessive usage of planes, trucks, and trains.
With all these benefits in place, and the consequences COVID-19 highlighted, it is time to stop taking advantage of other people for cheap, bulk labour. All existing foreign plants can remain in place, or gradually transition back to the country origin. For all newer companies and plans for newer factories, local is the way to go for a better, more secured future.
Abolish Communism
There are just 5 countries out of 195 that have a communist government system: China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam. Unlike democratic countries, the citizens of communist countries have far less freedoms and rights, including the press. While communism has proven to be oppressive and cruel for a long time, COVID-19 further proves that it is high time these countries, especially China, work towards abolishing it as soon as they feasibly can.
China did not ask for this disease to come upon themselves. It was not man-made, brought be spies, soldiers or any kind of superstitious nonsense. However, China can be rightfully scolded for detaining and quieting people such as Li Wenliang, who tried to warn the public about a disease spreading. As a result of China spending more effort in censoring and oppressing, it and the world has now suffered more than necessary from the communist government’s dictatorial approach to matters. It is time for communism to end. Many nations that were previously communist, have managed to transition peacefully. China can do the same.
Racism
Since the time and spread of COVID-19, there has been increased racism towards Asians. While the virus did in fact come from China, and the government can rightfully be blamed for mishandling it, viruses do not know or care about race. They are not something that exclusively affects one race or ethnicity, and avoids the rest. Reacting towards others with hate, only creates greater problems. It hinders the healing process. It makes people worried about getting treatment.
Poverty
Poverty is an intensely complex subject caused from numerous factors: lack of education, inability to get education, lack of employment, mental health, physical health, gender, racism, high cost of living, and many other factors. Billions across the world do not have proper houses. They are living on the streets, in shacks, shelters, and other unstable conditions. As a result, this poses a serious risk for the community spread of COVID-19. Curbing poverty is a complex problem with no single solution. However, world leaders should not wait until an outbreak arrives to realize that they should have done more sooner.
Will The World Wake Up?
Will the world wake up? Or will leaders and citizens go back to usual as soon as things slow down? COVID-19 is certainly not the first, nor will it be the last international plague. More will follow at an unknown point in time.
Millennium River 