14 Days to Defeat the Coronavirus
Dr. Ezekiel Emmanuel writing in today’s New York Times makes recommendations for tackling Covid 19. The latest epidemic projections from the Imperial College of London are that 2.2 million Americans will die unless we flatten the curve. The economic projections are that the economy will contract by 15% in the 2nd quarter and unemployment could surpass 20%. So there are twin crises – health and economics.
He recommends the closing of non-essential businesses and schools for up to three months while we all shelter in place.
We need to use the Defense Production Act to manufacture the necessary tests for the Covid 19 virus. Tests need to be administered on a widespread basis as China and South Korea have done. Tests should be administered outside hospital and clinical settings by the military, National Guard and a civilian Public Works corps so that the scarce medical and health personnel can be reserved for treatment not testing.
We need to use the Defense Production Act to manufacture sufficient masks, gowns and ventilators and a federal administrator needs to distribute them where needed. This would replace today’s system where states and providers are all competing against each other to gain access to an insufficient supply.
Hospitals need to suspend all elective procedures to concentrate their scarce resources on treatment of Covid 19 severely ill patients. We will need to bring health care personnel out of retirement. We will have to use foreign trained health and medical personnel. We will need to use volunteers and reward them with stipends to go into areas with shortages of health personnel to treat the Covid 19 patients.
The Treasury Department needs to make grants and loans to businesses with up to 1,000 employees to keep their employees on payroll at 80% of 2019 wages and benefits.
Dr. Emmanuel believes that with these measures the economy can come roaring back from a short V shaped three months of recession as opposed to a prolonged economic depression accompanied by enormous loss of life.
Prepared by: Lucien Wulsin
Dated: 3/24/19