Improve the Handling of Pandemics

The high human and economic costs of pandemic mandates and lockdowns can be avoided by the state establishing a 'popup' emergency healthcare system to ensure healthcare access and equity.

High Cost of Lockdowns

The initial justification for the government COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, were:

• Fear of overwhelming the healthcare system.
• Separating early cases of the disease would avoid infecting others until more was known about the characteristics of the new health threat; and,
• The state did not have a adequate method to handle healthcare for underserved segments of the population.

Many feel these justifications did not compensate for the high costs of the lockdown.

Regardless of how you feel about the “science,” the 2020-21 COVID-19 lockdown had many detrimental effects to individuals and the economy, including:

• Small business closures -- as much as 60% of the small business closed because they were deemed nonessential services many did not reopen;
• Public schools, in many geographies, pre-pandemic literacy scores were below acceptable levels -- the in-person school closures only exacerbated the problem;
• Forcing people to wear masks exposed them to unhealthy breathing of carbon dioxide and germs without valid evidence the masks were effective; and,
• People were kept from socializing and worshiping in a manner important to their mental health -- the isolation led to increased suicides, drug and alcohol abuse

Proposed Solution

The government could have avoided a complete social/economic lockdown, by following true science and pre-establishing an emergency healthcare system separate from the primary healthcare system.

Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger established such a system in California. He created a $200 million emergency preparedness system based on the threat of deadly strains of the flu and other diseases. But the system was dismantled by Gov. Jerry Brown and, then, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom due to budget shortfalls and the administration's other priorities. The result was shortage of critical medical supplies and resources in the state with the onset of the health threat.

An effective approach would be for state and local governments to re-establish this emergency healthcare system to respond to a pandemic and avoid panic and widespread destruction of social/economic institutions.

This emergency preparedness system would consist of three primary elements:

• Stockpile of emergency medical supplies and equipment;
• A trained reserve of pandemic medical workers; and,
• A list of locations where "pop-up" medical facilities can be quickly opened.

The stockpile would be distributed locally to support immediate care and regionally adjusted to cover hotspots.

A system of medical workers would be trained and at the ready using a program similar to state National Guard programs.

Pop-up medical facilities could be sports arenas, underused shopping malls, or vacant office buildings.

Summary

Handling pandemics without the high costs of mandatory lockdowns can be facilitated by planning and organization of resources: stockpiling medical supplies, training a reserve of people to work in healthcare during a crisis, and designating venues to be used as "pop-up" medical facilities.