Jean Angelica D.

Cabigao

April 26, 2020

Business Law 018

CRN: 26683

The Coronavirus in America: The Year Ahead

By: Donald G. McNeil Jr.

Donald G. McNeil wrote an article at New York Times entitled “The Coronavirus in America:
The Year Ahead.” The coronavirus has laid bare the failures of our costly, inefficient, market-
based system for developing, researching and manufacturing medicines and vaccines. Our
current system, a range of costly government incentives intended to stimulate private-sector
development has resulted in the 18-month window we now anticipate before widespread vaccine
availability. Both the public and private sector must work together and take far more active and
direct responsibility for the development and manufacture of medicines. Unfortunately, despite
warnings from government officials to take caution and self-distance because of coronavirus,
many people still don’t take the virus and lockdown seriously. It’s a matter of discipline,
execution, and how much the population abides by the rules. We are faced with a situation of an
outbreak with a closely related virus for which we currently have no specific therapeutics or
vaccines. The country has had a shortage of testing kits, so, the government does not know how
many people have had the disease. The tools we have at hand are isolation and quarantine, social
distancing and community containment. These measures will take time, during which the
pandemic will either accelerate beyond the capacity of the health system or slow to containable
levels. The president has mentioned hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin often. Although the
drugs are not recommended for people who have abnormal heart rhythms. Several antivirals are
being tested against the coronavirus; the latter two are flu drugs. However, end dates for most
trials in the United States are not yet set. Instead of Trump’s “America First” foreign policy, we
need to return to multilateral diplomacy, and to the understanding that co-operation with allies
and adversaries, is especially necessary when it comes to dealing with global problems like
climate change and viral pandemics. Moreover, there is a test to look for antibodies in the blood.
Because antibodies are unique to a pathogen, their presence is proof the person was infected by
the coronavirus and mounted an immune response. Though no possibility can be eliminated at
this early stage of the outbreak. Clinical trials take time, in part because there is no way to rush
the production of antibodies in the human body.
As much as we crave the same sense of normalcy that we had before the shutdown, there is no
going back to how things were. So, we must find a new kind of way to have a new kind of
normal. The world as we know it has changed so drastically in the past month. Now, we worry
about what our tomorrows will look like. Nothing could have really prepared us for this sort of
situation. We have moved into this new life of isolation equipped with nothing. COVID-19
changes the nature of our offices, hospitals, businesses, schools, and government buildings. Even
a perfect response won’t end the pandemic. If the virus persists somewhere, there’s a chance that
one infected traveler will reignite fresh sparks in countries that have already extinguished their
fires. It’s likely, then, that the new coronavirus will be a lingering part of American life for at
least a year, if not much longer. If the current round of social-distancing measures works, the
pandemic may return to a semblance of normalcy. The pandemic has brought widespread job
losses and threatened the livelihoods of millions as businesses struggle to cope with the
restrictions being put in place to control the virus. No one knows exactly what will come, but
here is our best stab at a guide to the unknown ways that society, government, healthcare, the
economy, our lifestyles and more will change. Economic activity has stalled, and stock markets
have tumbled alongside the falling carbon emissions. There won’t be a fully functioning
economy again until people are confident that they can go about their business without a high
risk of catching the virus. Our ability to reopen the economy ultimately depends on our ability to
better understand the spread and risk of the virus. It’s also quite likely that we will need to figure
out how to reopen the economy with the virus remaining a threat.
In this possible future, our fight against the virus goes better than expected but still at great
economic cost. The path forward depends on factors that are certainly difficult but doable.
Slowing the spread of it is a promising strategy, especially when combined with enhanced
measures and a carefully staggered approach to protect the elderly and those with underlying
health conditions. By slowing the spread of the disease, we might have more time to prepare and
be able to develop treatments or vaccines. And the hope that the presence of the antibodies is an
indication that the person is protected from another infection. As people who recover might be
protected for a couple of years. Good news is we may already have formed immunity with the
virus. If so, people with presumed immunity are very much in demand to work, donate blood for
antibodies, care for the vulnerable, and anchor the economy during this crisis. As lockdowns will
end haltingly, immunity will become a societal advantage. Whether through accumulating herd
immunity or the long-awaited arrival of a vaccine, the virus will find spreading explosively more
difficult. There’s a chance that the severity would decline, or fade and it would be mutating to
cause fewer symptoms that would usually become less deadly. Since the daily death toll is still
grim, but it is no longer rising. There would be less societal upheaval.
Crisis moments also presents opportunities and many companies around the world are working
together to find a cure in this pandemic. The virus can be kept in check, but only with expanded
resources. As the ripple of this virus can be felt around the world, it’s forcing humankind to
innovate and change the way we work and live. The upside of where we find ourselves right now
is that we will use this crisis to rebuild, develop new and innovative solutions, and produce
something more humane out of necessity. Only the successful creation of a vaccine, will
eventually lead to the restoration of normal social life. Once the pandemic has passed, the
national recovery may be swift. Over a relatively short period of time, as industries, transport
networks, and businesses have closed, we’re turning off major air pollutant sources. Despite this
difficult time, the lockdowns have shown the improvements to air quality and slash down air
pollution that are possible when emissions are reduced on a global scale. If there is something
positive to take from this terrible crisis, it could be that it’s offered a taste of the air we might
breathe in a low-carbon future as we became aware of the natural beauty around us. This show us
how the future might look having less air pollution with visible blue skies and better air quality.
At the very least, it should challenge everyone to consider how things can be done differently
after the pandemic, to hold on to temporary improvements in air quality.
Even if people are presented with clear evidence that a pandemic is unfolding, they deny the
reality of it. People should start seeing the need to understand that they may be carriers for this
disease, and spread it to more vulnerable subsets of the US population without ever feeling sick
or showing symptoms. Most Americans are simply not paying much attention to this crisis. In
fact, most of the people don’t think that the coronavirus is much of a threat to the United States
at all. Americans can take domestic flights, drive where they want, roam streets and parks, and
even want to have youth parties. They gamble with their lives, as they refuse to follow the
recommended guidelines of practicing self-quarantine and social-distancing as the coronavirus
continues to spread. Due to the lack of testing, lack of messaging, and the lack of seriousness on
the administration’s part, we may be far gone. As a result, the country now have the most cases
of coronavirus, this is a serious illness that everyone is at risk. On the other hand, while there are
still a number of us that are spending the pandemic cooped up indoors, craving to be back out in
public. The psychological fallout caused by isolation, are moments that seem bizarre, moments
of fear, preparation and moments of emptiness. These are scenes from the world living with
coronavirus. These are perilous times and our actions will define the country’s future.
The coronavirus has rapidly spread to nations throughout the world. In a matter of months, the
world has been transformed, infected millions of people, and is the leading cause of death. In this
pandemic, far more victims pour into hospitals or die at home, and the mildly ill or asymptomatic
never get tested. As no complete view of the virus exists, we do not know how deadly it is. One
of the biggest challenges has been the inability to assess exactly how many people have been
infected. This pandemic has crashed economies, broken health-care systems, filled hospitals,
emptied public places, separated people, and disrupted our society on a scale that everyone have
never witnessed. The lack of testing presents a serious challenge as this is a way for us to
determine how fast the virus is spreading. A quick restart could carry risks for the economy that
could lead to a longer, more damaging recession. Until a vaccine or another protective measure
emerges, there’s no way to set a safe time on when to open back up, and we won’t be able to
quickly identify and isolate cases, thus, community transmission could be re-established.
Moreover, there will not be a vaccine soon. No matter which strategy to make a vaccine or cure
is faster, it will take 12 to 18 months to develop a proven way, and then it will still be longer to
mass produce and distribute it. America has mishandled this crisis to a substantially worse
degree. We are completely unprepared, facing an enemy we don’t know. To an extent, the near
future is set as this is a slow and long illness.

Vocabulary Word: asymptomatic

Definition: (of a condition or a person) producing or showing no symptoms.
Use in a sentence: A significant number of infected people are asymptomatic. Though there are
some cases wherein some were initially classified as “asymptomatic” went on to develop
symptoms.
Article Hyperlink:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/18/health/coronavirus-america-future.html