SARS-CoV-2, or Coronavirus, is a virus that infects both individuals and nations. In human bodies, it infects cells of the lungs, creating an immune response that interferes with breathing in serious cases. In some patients, it goes on to attack other organs such as the heart. Some traits, such as age and weight, make individuals more or less vulnerable. The virus infects nations in ways that we're only beginning to understand. Individuals, even those not infected, seek distance from each other, making most kinds of work impossible. Entire sectors of the economy cease to operate, a cascading process that is hard to stop. Here too, certain traits make nations more or less vulnerable. As it turns out, the traits that allow nations to weather Coronavirus are the same ones that would help them eliminate poverty, create good jobs, provide universal health care, and help prevent global warming. It's looking like the U.S. has just about all the bad traits and few of the good ones. Though we can't change that in the next few weeks, we can get started in the way we respond to the immediate crisis, and then we can finish the job as we rebuild in the aftermath of the coming devastation. The big question, whose answer will either save or cost millions of lives, is: will either president Trump or Biden have the political will and awareness to make these deep, systemic changes?
America's national Coronavirus comorbidities
America's national Coronavirus comorbidities
America's national Coronavirus comorbidities
SARS-CoV-2, or Coronavirus, is a virus that infects both individuals and nations. In human bodies, it infects cells of the lungs, creating an immune response that interferes with breathing in serious cases. In some patients, it goes on to attack other organs such as the heart. Some traits, such as age and weight, make individuals more or less vulnerable. The virus infects nations in ways that we're only beginning to understand. Individuals, even those not infected, seek distance from each other, making most kinds of work impossible. Entire sectors of the economy cease to operate, a cascading process that is hard to stop. Here too, certain traits make nations more or less vulnerable. As it turns out, the traits that allow nations to weather Coronavirus are the same ones that would help them eliminate poverty, create good jobs, provide universal health care, and help prevent global warming. It's looking like the U.S. has just about all the bad traits and few of the good ones. Though we can't change that in the next few weeks, we can get started in the way we respond to the immediate crisis, and then we can finish the job as we rebuild in the aftermath of the coming devastation. The big question, whose answer will either save or cost millions of lives, is: will either president Trump or Biden have the political will and awareness to make these deep, systemic changes?