I just read this excellent article by the Associated Press, (https://apnews.com/b0fb106e129d4e2e37f6925c35a8cdd6),
that talks about chronic problems in long term care for seniors, including staffing, education and costs. This gives me hope that the silver lining in all this will be America's realization that our current system of elder care is unfair, exploitative, inefficient and just plain dangerous.
And I agree that the care of elders needs to be addressed and revamped. It's become an industry unto itself, and even though there is oversight, the challenges and costs are overwhelming.
One big change I'd like to see is the warehousing of older people, and implementing more natural activities including assistive gardening for all senior communities and facilities. People need to be in contact with Nature.
I don't disagree that it's exploitive, financially especially, and often in other ways.
It may also be that the first reassessments post CV need to be done globally, as some nations are doing now. We're all in this together even though we live in competing nations and countries. More screening at airports, perhaps quarantines after travel, higher screening of imported and exported goods (which could also address the damage done by non native insects and animals), and other options which I can't think of at the moment need to be addressed.
What needs to happen as well is that countries share their experiences, research, data and potential solutions. I'm sick of rogue and despotic leaders putting their own egos and obsession with control above everything else. Unfortunately though, there's not an easy way to rid the world of dictators and wanna be dictators and other nutcases.
But there also has to be a first response, critical level, something like a DefCon1, a MedCon1 perhaps, with multiple avenues to allow governors and the medical community to respond w/o waiting for the federal government. Backup supply sources also need to be planned, identified and configured for rapid gearup, but not by federal bureaucrats.
Plants that are idle now could be put to use manufacturing medical supplies, as was done during WWII. Standby plans absolutely need to be created. Right now, private sector is gearing up to do this, and that's probably the better solution, and a better one than business clambering for handouts as is being done with the proposed "stimulus" bill.
This is going to be a hard and sad learning experience.
I hope I live long enough to see changes made, as I'd hate to think of leaving this world w/o knowing that better plans and options can be devised.
I have said for years that our society, any society for that matter is a REactive one not a PROactive one so while changes may be made it may not be enough or effective for the next thing that looms around the corner.
And if "pandemics" are on a 100 year cycle the generation 100 years from now will have forgotten what has been learned and will probably react as slowly as "we" have currently.
My #2 daughter just said that Winston Churchill said that the US is a Reactive country. So we have been like this for a long time.