Short term, I think most of us agree, slow the spread, blunt the curve, which means a temporary position of limited interactions and necessary restrictions. But as a world, we don’t get through this crisis by destroying society and the world economy; we don’t get through this by isolationism. Every model clearly demonstrates how well isolation slows the spread, it never stops it; it affords precious time to prepare, it doesn’t impact the outcome that everyone on the planet will contract the disease. Modern societies function on interdependence, in the community, in the country, and across the world. We need each part of the economic cycle functioning to maintain our way of life; travel, entertainment, education, production, and services all work together to feed, clothe, and shelter the nearly 8 billion people on the planet. Shut down income for 5 billion of those people by shuttering businesses, restricting travel, prohibiting service industries; and we consequently shut down income for the other 3 billion not long after. In response to a growing outbreak, we are consciously putting the lives of everyone on the planet at risk as failed economies lead to failed governments lead to a total societal breakdown. We are no longer nomadic societies of hunter gatherers, and our model and way of life relies on us working together not on us slamming our doors.
We need to leverage this time to improve health care, expand the capacity to triage, treat, and combat this and future diseases. We need to have infrastructure to respond quickly with tests and treatments. Today, our governments are not focused on improving a global healthcare system woefully unprepared and under resourced; the discussions are on lowering interest rates, government subsidies to industry, blanket handouts of cash. None of that matters, there will be no money for the governments to offer, there will be no tax base, there will be no value to the currency we know today. When we think our way out of this crisis is to shut down society as we know it; not only will we fail to prevent the negative outcomes of a disease (millions will die), we’ll fail to preserve life on the other side (billions will die). Let’s demand of our governments a proper collaborative response to health care improvements, and not allow fear and xenophobia to turn a bad situation into one that we never recover from. We are not lost yet, but two weeks will turn into two months, will turn into a year; and then not only will we have lost millions to the disease, billions will have no income, and there will not be a path back.
