Of course, with the current situation, I can understand why they would close schools, but in my opinion, everyone is simply overreacting. Yes, while we should take precautions and should quarantine and treat people, I do believe that many people are panicking way too much, especially with the panic buying and stores getting cleared out. People are fighting over hand sanitizer as prices skyrocket. One man reportedly bought 17,700 bottles of hand sanitizers after the first COVID-19 case was reported in America, then sold 10,000 of them on Amazon for $70 each. He sold 5,000 more on eBay, then sold 300 more at a yard sale. With the remaining 400, he sold them to a Dollar Tree store. He had bought each for $8.
Many people called him greedy and shamed him for his actions, but I congratulate him! I do believe that his actions were perfectly fine, given that he was just making simple business. He was taking advantage of people’s panic, and people were practically giving him his money! This is a businessman, and given that we live in a nation with free trade, free market and free economy (In other words, capitalism), he has the right to and should try to make money during these times of over panicking.
Of course, while the deaths are over 15,000 and the cases nearing 400,000, I do not think people understand that we have a system in place to deal with these types of things! We have a healthcare system, one of the best in the world, and have infrastructure (And money) in place to deal with these types of outbreaks. The Ebola outbreaks definitely taught us that, and while America does have the 3rd highest amount of cases, the statistics show that most people recover. In fact, you can stay at home and recover without any help! Severe cases and mortality rates are quite low, but the reason our hospitals are overwhelmed is because of over panicking and the fact that people with other conditions also need the hospitals – COVID-19 is not the only virus out there! Of course, people must understand that we are not China (Currently #1) or Italy (Currently #2). We have taken initiative, despite rocky leadership in Washington, District of Columbia.
I agree with your statements, this is a crisis, but we do have a system in place to battle it. It is valid to be worried, but we cant panic in the midst of crisis, we must stay in control and monitor the situation.
“So the pie isn’t perfect? Cut it into wedges. Stay in control, and never panic.” – Martha Stewart
Thank you, Duncan.
I agree, Siddarth, that there has been some panicking and over-reacting; I wrote in one of my journal entries about my panicking two Friday evenings ago. But I think that would have been avoided if leaders were sending consistent strong messages. Yes, I like hearing that we are going to defeat this invisible enemy, but weeks ago I also would have liked to have been told, explicitly, what myself and everyone in the country needed to do in order to be responsible citizens. Anyway, I hope you’re well. Thanks for the blog post.
Sincerely,
Mr. Jockers
Thank you, Mr. Jockers.
Could I expect anything less of a argumentative mini essay from you Siddhartha. You do bring up great points about the virus. You should do this topic for your editorial.
Julia, I am.
Hello Siddarth, I do agree with some of the points you have but there is a certain amount of precautions we must take to make sure we don’t just shave off 3.9% of the population. I agree many people are overreacting leading to the breakdown of our education system. People flocking to buy as much as they can have left grocery stores empty.I understand this is a big problem. You write a good journal entry. If you have a chance look at this chart. It is a good indicator of how the world is right now with the coronavirus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgylp3Td1Bw
Alex, I agree, but my point was that we should take precautions and be cautious, but that we should not panic.
you made a lot of good point
Thank you, Violet.
Nice. Also, the main reason people are getting mad at him is probably that he was taking advantage of the system, and most people don’t like when others do that. I heard about a kid in the UK who did a similar thing at his school and was impressed that he had managed to do that. Also, yes, we have a response to this, but there are a few problems, such the test shortage problem and the fact that this mutates quite a bit, the fact that recovered people are testing positive again, and other things, which could make this a lot more difficult for humans. I’m not saying that we should go buy all of the toilet paper at Costco, but we can’t just go and say, “We’ll be fine, this will end soon.” As a society, the world started out on the panic side of the line. Now, more people are going to the other side. While it’s good not to be panicking, we can’t let our guard down. This is still a problem, and we need to fix it, and if nobody is worried, why would someone bother to fix it? We’re walking a fine line here, as a group, and I’m worried that we’re going to overreact to our overreaction soon enough. Personally, I’m not panicking. There’s no need to panic. But I would say that there is a need to be frightened, though not too much. Fear isn’t always bad.
Of course your comment is the longest, Nate. Yes, taking advantage of the system is the reason why everybody got mad at him, and there are probably other people around the world doing the same. Indeed, while there are some problems with tackling this ‘unknown’ virus, such as minor mutations, the world can still work together to produce a vaccine – in fact, several are already in development, and some combinations of existing drugs works in fighting and even curing this new virus. A team of scientists in India treated an Italian couple who had come to India for a vacation using a combination of Anti-HIV, Swine Flu and Malaria drugs to treat them. China followed suite with 2 Anti-HIV drugs and 1 Malaria Drug to treat a patient in Wuhan. So, we can fight this mutation. As for the shortage in supplies, yes, while there is a shortage in testing kits, we can tackle this as well by spreading our resources and producing more. As I stated, we have strong healthcare, infrastructure and lots of money to deal with supply shortages. Of course, the world did panic at first, but are now cooling down, and yes: we should be FRIGHTENED, but not in fear. We should fix the problem CALMLY, and soon, we’ll get through this. That’s good that you’re not overreacting, but many are. Yes, fear isn’t all bad – the right amount of fear keeps us alert, but too much fear blinds us.
I enjoyed reading your comment, Siddharth, and really like that last line.