For Your Information
Strict Comprehensive Measures Urgently Recommended to Contain COVID-19 and Protect the Population
The World Health Organization (WHO) has advised
strict
comprehensive measures to contain the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19)
and to protect the population, including quarantine, testing, contact
tracing, social distancing, and direct population/community
mobilization.
On March 11, the WHO assessed that COVID-19 can be
characterized as a pandemic. A pandemic is when a new disease for which
people do not have immunity spreads around the world beyond
expectations. One distinction is that the spread of the disease in
various regions is no longer attributed to travellers only. It is the
first time that a
pandemic is caused by a coronavirus. The WHO also says that it is the
first pandemic "that can be controlled."
The WHO estimates the current mortality rate to be
about
3.4 per cent. In the U.S. it is estimated to be about five per cent.
Even if the mortality rate were one per cent, it would still be ten
times higher than that of the normal seasonal influenza. Reports also
indicate a marked discrepancy between officially diagnosed cases and
actual cases.
The time it takes for patients to get tested and other factors,
including the extremely low rate of testing in the U.S., result in a
gap between the reported number of cases and the real number. One can
expect 10 to 100 times the reported number. This means there are
already tens of thousands of cases in North America, if not more.
Strict, Socially Responsible Measures Needed
Globalization, including just-in-time delivery of
goods,
services and even human beings, has brought the world together in an
unprecedented socialized way. Even though some countries have yet to
see any cases of the disease, we are all in this together as one
humanity with a common interest to contain the coronavirus and protect
the
population. The governments at every level must take full
responsibility for implementing the WHO's recommendations responsibly.[1]
All those who are working at home must continue to be paid in a normal
manner. All those laid off as a result of the shutdown of workplaces
must be compensated.
Governments have been encouraging privatization, and contracting out
and casualization of most work, especially in the service sector, and
now they must guarantee that all contract workers and the self-employed
receive remuneration during this special period. The workers who work
in the so-called gig economy, including where private interests
use software apps to favour their narrow interests and workers are
expected to be available on demand to do one gig at a time, must also
receive compensation during this special period if they too must stay
in quarantine or be subjected to more restrictive conditions of
isolation.
The modern reality and condition of a socialized
economy and life demand that national governments must fulfill their
social responsibility to contain this virus using the public health
measures recommended by the WHO, given the lack of medical
countermeasures at this time. They must put the full weight of the
economy and all public and
private institutions behind the successful implementation and
protection of the population, making sure all those who need help
receive it.
Where There's a Will There's a Way!
 The adage "Where
there's a will there's a way"
applies
under the circumstances. Despite the decrepit state of many health care
facilities and dearth of beds and nursing and other personnel due to
the vicious anti-social offensive governments have been imposing on our
society to favour the rich, as in any crisis, facilities can be
commandeered
and equipped and qualified personnel can be hired and trained to deal
with the matter at hand, taking every precaution required to protect
everyone involved. It can be done and must be done!
Working people must unite in action at every
level and
determine how they can contribute to making quarantine, isolation and
the other strict measures required effective and to asserting the
claims they are entitled to make on governments at every level.
Quarantining is a very important first measure and people can inform
themselves of the
guidelines they must follow. If they require assistance, they must call
the public health care numbers they are provided with and describe
their symptoms and follow the instructions. Full testing and treatment
must be provided to everyone who needs it. By closing everything down
for the two-week incubation period and then assessing whether the
virus has been contained on the basis of verifiable results, and
pursuing the instructions of the WHO meticulously, Canada can do its
part to contain and mitigate this global pandemic.
As for the working people, they can play their
role by
speaking out to lay the claims on society and the governments in charge
that everyone is entitled to make. This includes compensation for the
period they are off work because of closures and measures to protect
those public service workers who do essential work in the health care
and
education sectors and in all aspects of social services, including home
care, long-term care and care for the youth, elderly and others in
distress. For those engaged in retail work related to the sale of
essential items such as food, medicines and necessary hygiene products,
in transportation or any other essential service, arrangements must be
made to
replace those workers who must quarantine themselves for whatever
reason, undergo isolation at home or be hospitalized, and to protect
those still on the job.
Nobody should be put in a situation of fending for
themselves to find a direction and the means to cope as families and
individuals during this pandemic. All social organizations --
especially unions, social clubs and associations of all kinds -- should
go into action to make sure their members are informed and looked after.
The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist)
has
called on its organizations across the country to inform themselves of
the situation of their members and supporters to make sure everyone is
taken care of and is informed, and to organize for the implementation
of prescribed protective measures where needed not only in the homes
and
neighbourhoods but also workplaces and educational institutions.
All individuals and collectives are called upon to
unite
in action to play their part and act responsibly under all conditions
and circumstances to humanize the social and natural environment, and
to give meaning and substance to the necessity of activating the human
factor/social consciousness and putting human beings in command of
their
condition. By taking conscious measures to make sure nobody is put in a
situation of having to fend for themselves, working Canadians will
proudly proclaim that this humanity is able to bring the problems
facing humankind under control and that they have played their part.
All Out to Adopt the
Measures Necessary to Contain COVID-19
and Protect the Population!
Hold Governments at Every Level Responsible
to Implement the
Recommended Public Health Measures Fully and Responsibly!
One Humanity,
One Struggle!
All Out to Defend the Rights of All!
Note
1.
According to the WHO, quarantine
refers to "the restriction of activities or separation of persons who
are not ill, but who may have been exposed to an infectious agent or
disease, with the objective of monitoring symptoms and early detection
of cases." It can be voluntary, which some refer
to as self-quarantine, or mandatory, depending on the circumstances.
Quarantine is different from isolation, which is "the separation of ill
or infected persons from others, so as to prevent the spread of
infection or contamination." Isolation means staying indoors and
completely avoiding contact with other people to the greatest extent
possible for
those who have tested positive for COVID-19, are waiting to be tested
or awaiting the results of their test. It is sometimes referred to as
self-isolation when individuals act to implement the necessary measures
on their own in their home or another place such as a hotel room when
traveling.
The National Health Authority of Canada indicates
that
when quarantine and isolation/self-isolation are undertaken at an
individual level, they are considered social distancing approaches,
along with such measures as avoiding crowding, school and workplace
measures and closures, public/mass gathering cancellations, etc. For
further details, click
here.
For interim WHO guidelines for quarantining in the
context of the containment of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), click
here.
This article was published in
Number 12 - March 18, 2020
Article Link:
For Your Information: Strict Comprehensive Measures Urgently Recommended to Contain COVID-19 and Protect the Population
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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