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Ethan Barker
Covid 19, A Lesson Learned
The Covid-19 pandemic has progressed much further than it ever should have been allowed to.
As we approach six hundred-thousand deaths in the United States this fact becomes increasingly
important as small decisions such as making testing available, shutting down transportation, and
simply mandating masks could have made an immense difference. A common argument made in
favor of several world leaders is that a pandemic is not something we were expecting or have had
to deal with in the past. This argument is false, the fact is scientists have been warning us about
SARS, Coronaviruses, Bird flu and other pandemic level pathogens for several years now. We
also have had several outbreaks of epidemic and pandemic level pathogens in the last century
that have been managed and stopped early on. While Covid-19 was in many ways a perfect
storm for a pandemic due to its high transmission rate, it could have been less disastrous had we
listened to science.
If I could share one lesson I have learned from this pandemic, it would be to listen to
science. I often reflect on the ways in which I followed the rules of the CDC, the ways I could
have been safer, and the things that were out of my control. Over quarantine I worked at a
grocery store where some customers reacted to the disease with ignorance and nonchalance,
while others were terrified, and visibly so. Both sides of the spectrum came with a unique set of
issues that were up to myself and my coworkers to solve. Had we as a nation listened to science
instead of concerning the profits of million dollar corporations then places like supermarkets and
other essential businesses could have been made safer and as a result lessened the global panic
that resulted in shortages of resources.
Covid 19, A Lesson Learned
The Covid-19 pandemic has progressed much further than it ever should have been allowed to.
As we approach six hundred-thousand deaths in the United States this fact becomes increasingly
important as small decisions such as making testing available, shutting down transportation, and
simply mandating masks could have made an immense difference. A common argument made in
favor of several world leaders is that a pandemic is not something we were expecting or have had
to deal with in the past. This argument is false, the fact is scientists have been warning us about
SARS, Coronaviruses, Bird flu and other pandemic level pathogens for several years now. We
also have had several outbreaks of epidemic and pandemic level pathogens in the last century
that have been managed and stopped early on. While Covid-19 was in many ways a perfect
storm for a pandemic due to its high transmission rate, it could have been less disastrous had we
listened to science.
If I could share one lesson I have learned from this pandemic, it would be to listen to
science. I often reflect on the ways in which I followed the rules of the CDC, the ways I could
have been safer, and the things that were out of my control. Over quarantine I worked at a
grocery store where some customers reacted to the disease with ignorance and nonchalance,
while others were terrified, and visibly so. Both sides of the spectrum came with a unique set of
issues that were up to myself and my coworkers to solve. Had we as a nation listened to science
instead of concerning the profits of million dollar corporations then places like supermarkets and
other essential businesses could have been made safer and as a result lessened the global panic
that resulted in shortages of resources.