Halt, Pedestrian: Lockdown & Containment
Government Administrations quick to fund Defense Systems with soldiers and weapons stockpiles to take lives are realizing that defunding Health Systems’ staff and supplies ends lives.
In my February 2019 paper, The User: Has it replaced the Pedestrian? I posed the question, Is the user no longer a pedestrian? Is this what progress consists of? If so, it is not the user but the pedestrian who is brave in this new world. As we have seen, the pedestrian is being forced to brave or “tough it out.”
Writing on the topic of a dystopian future and technology were authors of books like “1984” and “Brave New World.” In Ray Bradbury’s, “The Pedestrian”, the genesis of his 1953 “Fahrenheit 451”, we find a time where people kept mostly in doors, glued to their large screens with audio plugs watching “mass media.” Since going outdoors is restricted, there is little need for policemen or cars and so replacing them with robotics is efficient and practical.
The current lockdown bears a striking resemblance to the story’s police state imposing quarantine like society. In the current pandemic, is the lockdown necessary and sufficient against an “invisible enemy”? Or is it an experiment for what is to come?
Nations have enforced lockdowns in an effort to control the spread of the COV-19 Virus. Lockdown, Containment and Quarantines were in order requiring leaders to make hard choices.
Tracking COV-19 in Real Time
In December 2019, Avi Shiffmann developed a coronavirus tracker one can find on his site
https://ncov2019.live/ → As of April 3, 2020: Worldwide total deaths 53,326
Johns Hopkins created a “dash board”
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6
→ As of April 3, 2020: Worldwide total deaths 53,179
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services) → 1918 Influenza 50 million + deaths
The question is: Is anybody tracking the influenza that reportedly kills an estimated 40,000 in the U.S. alone? Do these numbers run parallel to COV-19, in addition to, or do they overlap?
New Rules of Disengagement
“This is not business as usual”- Dr. Anthony Fauci
Dear World, cautious but sensible actions are in order. Children and pets sense fear. Our parents, grandparents, and those most vulnerable need our support. Stay strong for them.
From unfounded media reports, to unwarranted health ads on the tube and telephone sales calls leaving alarming messages, perpetrators are taking advantage of the crisis. Though you may not be able to personally see your loved one, you can attempt to call them if technology is not available to them. Health experts need to be consulted. Stay well informed for your friends and loved ones.
Real or imagined, it stands to reason that a contagion is killing people. To those who choose to underestimate the danger for themselves, given the science and reported number of deaths, it may at the very least behoove you to keep six feet between you and others lest you or the other fall six feet under.
No doubt conflicting messages leaves some especially the youth to question government warnings. I myself have long questioned authority. But I consult experts and do independent research. Questioning in the form of critical thinking and the use of the scientific method to arrive at evidence is crucial.
COV-19 could not have come at a worse time. Global environmental, social, and cultural instability worsened by political divisiveness has created an ecosystem where the virus thrives in a perfect storm of chaos, disinformation, and misinformation.
As a panicked U.S. nation remains well contained on Main Street, those on Wall Street may see it as a time to profit while there is still “blood on the streets.” On March 31st, the last day of this March madness, it has been reported that given the trajectory of cases and deaths, the U.S. may reach its peak by end of April. May will either bring flowers or let the public know they were “April fooled” as reaching that peak may be several months away.
U.S., is Puerto Rico and Venezuela’s thinking of you? How are FEMA and your government working for your people? Disease, natural disasters, rising famine, homelessness, and drug abuse are across a divided “United” States. Think refugees and immigrants from war torn countries like Africa, Syria, Turkey, Iraq, Yemen… understand your pain? Perhaps now you understand theirs.
State of Emergencies have been implemented across the U.S. Adults’ fears have given way to xenophobia and frantic actions as seen in public spaces. Images of store shelves ravaged as those seen in war torn cities or developing countries are now being seen in the West. It is times like these where cooler heads will prevail.
Lockdown and containment brings about new rules of disengagement resulting in disruption and exposing weak infrastructures. U.S., primarily in states with earthquakes like California, has long designated April, an entire month, for “earthquake preparedness.” Seems they forgot to assign a month for Health. Or, have the rest of the 11 months been assigned to social acts of redemption? Actions alleviating guilt do not release one from taking responsibility. Shouldn’t one be prepared for quakes and health crises to strike at any time?
Spotlight on Weak Infrastructures
“Human technology has changed dramatically in the past 25 centuries; human nature has not.” – Hagop Kantarjian, MD, and David P. Steensma, MD
In the wake of COV -19, local, national and global health policies are being enforced and new ones considered. But, does it really take an Act of Congress to remind people to wash their hands? Where was all this concern for hygienic practices in the health sector in the past, especially with an estimate of 40,000 yearly influenza deaths?
Seriously, I often needed to remind the eye doctor or optometrist to wash her hands before she placed her hands and fingers on my eyelids? (change of physicians and dentists has been constant for their lack of best practices and unprofessionalism).
Or, in the retail and public sectors? Countless times, as I entered buildings, I needed to request they refill the sanitary wipes. Luckily, I always carried a sanitizer for back-up. It’s understandable that in the West, primarily the U.S. government, they would find it difficult to impose personal responsibility let alone social responsibility, what with all the freedoms and liberties. Moving forward, abusing freedoms and liberties at the health cost of others is not sustainable.
Human nature has shown its ugly face, where a significant number of people live an unhealthy lifestyle. Such conduct is especially worrisome in environments that are conducive to human to human contact. Low income areas and developing countries are susceptible to not practicing good hygiene but not for lack of wanting but for lack of affording cleaning supplies. Shamefully, individuals in the developed world thought they were immune. They were mistaken.
Countries appear to be ill-prepared to respond. In the West, the U.S. with its reputed image of a people who are, to put it bluntly, “fat and lazy,” promoted by supersized meals served fast or “quick and dirty” made themselves a liability. Some have argued that the U.S. has the best medical care and more supplies than Europe. Perhaps, but consider that unlike the U.S., European countries are said to outlaw drug ads and yet maintain a healthier lifestyle.
In my July 2019 paper, U.S. Dangerous Troika? – Physician, Pharma, and Hospital, I referenced the February 2019 U.S. hearing on Prescription Drug Pricing. U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) stated, “Apart from New Zealand, nowhere else in the world will you see drug ads on television.”
When Masto questioned Albert Bourla, CEO Pfizer, “So, if you maintain that television ads are a critical public health tool, then how can it be if our health outcomes are not significantly better than in those countries where it is outlawed?” Bourla responded, “I think that the health care outcomes and life expectancy, there is a lot of factors that influence it. For example, exercise, diet, lifestyle. And I feel that our nation needs to improve a lot in many of these cases.”
Examining infrastructures start with humans – know your body. Two key critical points were emphasized by Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Robert R. Redfield. Basically the overall mortality rate is seventy+ and the importance of people taking responsibility for their lifestyle promoting a “vigorous and robust immune system.” Yet, not everyone is born with “good genes” or afforded access to healthcare and healthy food. Right, but for those physically able, mobility and practicing good hygiene is not about being rich or poor.
In a free society, social responsibility comes from personal responsibility. It readily appears that freedom has afforded some the right to ignore this practice. Service economy has magnified the effect as it’s aided the propensity of being serviced as opposed to one being self-sufficient and actively taking charge. Threatening to dishevel an already crumbling physical infrastructure, the virus has seized upon nations’ community engagement.
Inspector Citizen
Let me be clear, consult experts. I will share that which I’ve shared in the past with my family and friends. Welcome to My World!
Lax of regulations has become more prominent in the last two decades in Western countries, especially the U.S., forcing one to take charge and be their own food and drug “inspector.” Shopping, whether in person or online, one will come into contact with products likely handled by several people, from the manufacturer to the distributor to the retail worker or the messenger to your doorstep.
As I’ve said to my family and friends, you have no idea where a product has been or who or what it’s come into contact with. For groceries, multiple options can be used. Two examples: Repackage items in clean plastic or glass containers that do not come into contact with unclean hands; Or, wash/clean the outside of plastic packages (i.e. milk cartons/containers, cheese/deli packages); and wash your hands. Again, consult experts.
Time, effort, and patience. Oh, and don’t forget expense. Weekly, we go through more gallons of hand soap than dish or detergent soap. If the use of pesticides isn’t bad enough, the public must also contend with the spread of viruses. As the health crisis unfolds it may likely restructure the past rise of third party vendors in all market spaces and question their practices. As it applies to produce, manufacturers may wish to rethink their labeling.
According to one vendor, “In the early years, we experimented with putting our name…on a paper band and wrapping it around hands of bananas. The idea of sticking labels on bananas only started in 1963. Machines are just too rough and can bruise the delicate fruit so that’s why we still place our blue sticker on them by hand.” But is it really necessary to stick a label on each piece? Also, consider how each tomato on a vine is tagged.
More importantly, are the humans placing the stickers provided supplies to wash their hands or use gloves? Are these employees made to follow U.S. regulations? Just look at the “birth certificate” on your produce and see where each product came from. Do you trust the source?
Future Rules of Engagement
“Indeed, unless we choose to decentralize and to use applied science, not as the end to which human beings are to be made the means… under the need for efficiency and stability, into the welfare-tyranny of Utopia…– Brave New World, Aldous Huxley,1932, 1946.
Humans translated their unhygienic practices in their physical space to the internet. Failing to provide digital literacy to their young over two decades ago, the U.S. government “fell behind” and so last year promoted the practice of online “good hygiene.”
Users are unaware or forget that like the Operating System OS the Human System HS can easily get infected with viruses. In the interim mitigation entails controlling the spread.
Considerations:
→“Open Source” and the “Sharing Economy”
Culture of “open source” has provided ideal spaces for connecting communities as well as virulence. Propensity of adult contagion can be explained by noting how adults interact in the physical world: ride sharing, hotel sharing, product sharing, etc. How spread?
First, consider reported adult to child ratios of susceptibility and infection. In public spaces, consumers’ POS transactions require Adult-Adult close interactions (typically between 1 to 3 feet). Majority of those diagnosed with COV-19 are adults.
Two possibilities: Adults contracting contagious diseases have tended to be in close proximity whether in group settings or in sexual activity. Multiple reports argue that COV-19 began and spread through primarily adult traffic areas: travel and commercial sectors.
Second, the popularity of “open source” and the “sharing economy” promoted the bad practices of holding and sharing each other’s smart technology (phones, pads, and laptops). In a perfect world where everyone cleaned and sanitized their devices, contracting a virus would be minimal if not virtually nonexistent. But few humans live in a vacuum.
→ Smartphone
Let’s be smart about using the “smartphone.” Handheld items or devices can easily and literally be a launch pad and prime mover of bacteria and viruses. Before this wonderful gadget came along, after making a call one walked away from a phone not taking it with them round the clock. But app after app required one hold the gadget almost endlessly and at times touching other surfaces.
→ Travel
Global travel via airplanes and cruise ships are the channels that connect people. Vessels in and of themselves are normally not the problem. Private ships and aircraft tend to be well maintained especially Military and Navy fleets that make this a top priority. However, commercial airliners and ships reported issues and accidents have risen in the past decade.
Commercial airline travel appears to carry an inherent risk making the recent reported mismanagement and supply chain deficiencies added risk factors. Reports attribute the inherent risk problem to industry’s rushed integration of A.I. technology and a clear disregard for necessary, not simply “adequate” or “appropriate,” testing of the aircraft in combination of required pilot training.
The result can and has led to preventable plane crashes. Last October, in his affirmation to Boeing noting the two flights crashes, Senator Roger Wicker (R) Mississippi stated:
“One year ago today, Lion Air Flight 610 crashed into the sea shortly after take-off from Jakarta, Indonesia…five months later, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 departed Ethiopia.” Wicker declared that both flights “experienced problems shortly after take-off and crashed. Both of these accidents were entirely preventable.”
A former airline executive, who reported serving in the military, testified that when he raised safety concerns to the airline he was told, “We don’t sell safety.” Senator Edward Markey responded, “Safety is not for sale.” This transpired on October 19. 2019. Health crises aside, without considering residual risk, it looks like the airlines will not be selling safety or their planes for quite some time.
Without the superior standards set forth by the Military and Private industry, transportation of people via sea and aircraft appears to carry a higher risk ratio. Yet, the military is not entirely immune. The Associated Press recently reported that “The U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier… the captain, facing a growing outbreak of the coronavirus, asked the Pentagon for permission to move most of his crew to shore.”
Ocean liners’ inherent risk may be attributed to having a large number of people in close proximity. Implementing vigorous and systematic cleaning of high contact areas may provide a residual risk. Otherwise, the size of commercial ships and their proportionate large number of cabins can be construed as “petri dishes” or as Dr. Fauci notes cruise ships as “incubators.”
Strategies not War
Communities are now practicing “social distancing.” Restriction of public interaction is resulting in reengineering social and cultural norms. Supplies being scarce, time is of the essence and the need to improvise. The developed nations can learn from developing countries that are forced to do more with less.
In my 2017 paper, Réfugiés: Conception et Mise en Ouvre d’un Cohésif Cadre Sécurité et Socio-économique (Refugees: Designing & Implementing a Cohesive Socio-Economic Framework in Western Nations), I proposed multiple strategies to compliment the many ways refugees dealt with acclimating to a “new normal.” Similarly, world citizens can utilize similar strategies.
The implications to the economy and supply chains can be seen in the health, transportation, business, trade, commerce, education, workforce, retail, and public events. Few sectors have been able to accommodate their workforce with suitable preventive supplies.
Yet, one reported wholesaler, Costco, at a California location appears to be implementing a smart strategy: clear and effective protocols. From the entrance to the checkout, it set up a defined pathway leading to products in high demand, tissue and water.
Once in the checkout line, workers reminded customers to keep a six feet space between them. At the POS, the customer and cashier were separated by what appeared to be a clear pixy glass shield. It begs the question, why are other wholesalers and retailers or other public sectors not practicing similar measures? Does one need to have membership status?
Citizens are advised by the ADA and MDA to postpone elective medical procedures. State government is asking people to stay at home excepting necessary shopping and traveling. These temporary restrictions may give people pause and have them reflect on unnecessary or excessive consumerism.
Human nature does not change and so few engage in healthy living and proper hygiene. Some may change their habits. But most are likely to revert back as it is easier, less time consuming, and less costly to keep low standards resulting in a lack of personal and social responsibility.
Ahh, to be Young and Artful!
It’s being argued that some individuals of the younger generations have been dismissive of the seriousness of the situation. Speaking to one of my mentors on this issue, he reminded me of Henri Estienne, the 16th century Frenchman’s known words, “Si jeunesse savoit; si vieillesse pouvoit” meaning more or less “If youth had the knowledge; If age had the strength.”
The English and Irish too have their version as the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw famously reminded us, “Youth is the most precious thing in life; it is too bad it has to be wasted on young folks.” What I would say to Estienne and Shaw, Gentlemen, some of us younglings are strong and acquire knowledge but more importantly seize opportunities alongside the risks enjoying the pain, joy, and glory in all its intensity.
Lastly, let’s not forget that it was the older generation, especially those in public service, so called leaders whose actions and inactions have put the people, countries and world at most risk.
→ Drastic cuts in Health Department funds has exacerbated the staffing and supply crisis!
Past failed public policies, “war on drugs” and “war on terror“, have put into question the U.S. President’s “war on virus.” Sir, prison has not ended drugs. Drones have not ended terrorism. And no, you cannot fire a virus.