Do They Really Care?

By Tetiana Kolodii

COVID-19 is still out there and does not seem to be going away any time soon. It's the new realty.

This disastrous virus keeps turning people’s lives upside down. It has created tremendous problems in the fields of science, politics, economy, education, and just normal lives. The entire world is desperate and exhausted. Who would have thought that with modern medicine, a virus can ruin years of hard work? Right now, it is a war; a different type of war, an improved war that no one has expected to face.

While people are fighting the virus, they also have to fight the government, companies that are being parasites, and people who still do not see the severity of the issue. It is not a novelty that healthcare professionals are not properly equipped. Sadly, the President of the United States does not seem to care much as he was not in a big hurry to sign a Defense Production Act – an act to establish a system of priorities and allocations for materials and facilities, authorize the requisitioning thereof, provide financial assistance for expansion of productive capacity and supply, provide for price and wage stabilization, provide for the settlement of labor disputes, strengthen controls over credit, and by these measures facilitate the production of goods and services necessary for the national security, and for other purposes, according to Wikipedia.

According to a The New York Times article, governors and members of Congress pleaded with Mr. Trump to use the law to force the production of ventilators and other medical equipment to combat the coronavirus pandemic, that he has for weeks treated it like a “break the glass” last resort, to be invoked only when all else fails (Kanno-youngs).

Unfortunately, the act was invoked only on March 27. The president reportedly said he had finally pressed the law into action to force General Motors to step up efforts to manufacture ventilators, said the article. (Kanno-youngs). The problem is that it should have been done when the virus was on its early stages. It could have saved lives and medical personnel would not have to deal with equipment scarcity.

On his weekly program, Last Week Tonight, John Oliver featured the problem in depth. According to the report, New York hospitals and morgues are so overcrowded that they had to get a refrigerated truck to store the bodies (Oliver). The pandemic is hitting the world at a full force and people who can do something seem to be listless.

President Trump reportedly has repeatedly insisted that the situation with the coronavirus is “very much under control”. Initially, the president reportedly was ready to open businesses again by Easter. On March 25 in an interview with Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN), he was asked what the plan was based on and responded, in part, "I think there are certain people that would like it not to open so quickly. I think there are certain people that would like it to do financially poorly because they think that would be very good as far as defeating me at the polls. And I don't know if that's so, but I do think it's so that a lot of - that there are people in your profession that would like that to happen.” (President Trump Announces Support). As it can be seen, the answer was turned into politics.

According to the most recent data published by Cable News Network (CNN), President Donald Trump warned of a "painful" and "tough" two-week stretch ahead as he extended nationwide distancing measures that -- even if followed closely -- could still mean more than 100,000 and up to 240,000 Americans die from coronavirus. "I want every American to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead. We're going to go through a very tough two weeks,"(sci) reportedly said Trump (Liptak).

It looks like the president was able to reevaluate the whole gravity of an issue. So, which one is it ? “We have everything very much under control” or “We are going to go through tough two weeks”? It could still be a political move to please the electorate, but nothing should be done at the cost of people’s health and well-being.

Another issue is how medical personnel are treated in these unprecedented times. All medical institutions are overwhelmed and just exhausted. Pharmacies are one of those medical institutions. A lot of medications have become unavailable and on a back order in the last month which adds more work and stress to pharmacy employees. Unfortunately, this is not their only issue either.

In an interview, a CVS pharmacy employee, who to remain anonymous, shared that a big corporation is neglecting safety of its workers. CVS employees are forced to work without cleaning supplies with a requirement to clean every hour. According to the report, “They have not issued masks, gloves or protective gear. The company has not reduced the work hours or changed the workflow. Flu shots are being promoted, but how can a pharmacist give someone a flu shot without a mask or gloves? Pharmacists are expected to show up to work even if they have a 104 fever unless they tested positive for COVID-19," shares one of the CVS pharmacists (Kolodii), said the report.

Health care workers should be protected and equipped at all times. Why does a pandemic have to happen for something to change?

According to Addy Baird, BuzzFeed News reporter, CVS employees say the company isn’t doing enough to protect them from getting sick while working through the outbreak. Workers from stores in several different states — including New York, which has the highest number of cases in the nation — said they are working without masks and gloves and running low on vital cleaning supplies (Baird). It looks like all the company cares about is money and the well-being of the employees does not matter.

It is important to learn a lesson from this situation. Bad things do not always happen to make us miserable. They happen to teach us and to help us get better. Although, it feels like the world has frozen for a little bit, life keeps going on. Those are crazy times we live in, but it does not mean we should freeze too. We can still do things for our own development and self-improvement. It is hard to be isolated from a normal life, which proves that humans are very social and need communication despite the digital world, but we can proudly accept the challenge and work on ourselves.

NCC student Tetiana Kolodii wrote this essay for her "Research and Argument" assignment for English 101.

Works Cited

Baird, Addy. “CVS Stores Are Staying Open During The Coronavirus Pandemic, But Employees Said They Feel Unsafe.” BuzzFeed News, BuzzFeed News, 27 Mar. 2020, www.buzzfeednews.com/article/addybaird/cvs-pharamcy-employees-coronavirus-cleaner-masks.

Coronavirus III: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO ... www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElIf2DBrWzU.

“Defense Production Act of 1950.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 30 Mar. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_Production_Act_of_1950.

Kanno-youngs, Zolan, and Ana Swanson. “Wartime Production Law Has Been Used Routinely, but Not With Coronavirus.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 31 Mar. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/03/31/us/politics/coronavirus-defense-production-act.html.

Kolodii, Tetiana. “An Interview with a CVS Pharmacist.” 1 Apr. 2020, Stamford.

Liptak, Kevin, and Kaitlan Collins. “Trump Expected to Formally Unveil New Guidelines and Provide Models as Rationale.” CNN, Cable News Network, 31 Mar. 2020, www.cnn.com/2020/03/31/politics/trump-white-house-guidelines-coronavirus/index.html.

“President Trump Announces Support for $2 Trillion Economic Stimulus Bill.” C, www.c-span.org/video/?470675-1/president-trump-announces-support-2-trillion-economic-stimulus-bill.