As the world nears a quarter of a million reported COVID-19 related deaths, many countries are prematurely lifting restrictions that were put in place to halt the spread of the deadly disease.In particular states where bean counters are in charge, the response has been entirely deficient, meaning that COVID-19 continues to spread largely unabated.
Normally you would expect this to cause a continuation of lockdown measures. However economic incentives appear to have overridden many level headed political leaders.
Those calling for lockdowns to be entirely lifted have barely given any pause to consider the ramifications of their demands. For them, the financial incentive trumps any concerns for people’s safety, particularly the working class who're on the front lines of the COVID-19 response.
Unfortunately class struggle, which has seen millions of lives needlessly lost, is nothing new; it’s just that the stakes are a lot higher now. The destructive mindset that believes in sacrificing people for profit has nearly always existed. It’s just that COVID-19 has made it far more apparent for everyone to examine.
Today, ABC News reported:
As Lockdowns Ease, Some Countries Report New Infection Peaks
Health experts warn that a second wave of infections could hit unless testing is expanded dramatically once the lockdowns are relaxed. But pressure to reopen keeps building after the weeks-long shutdown of businesses worldwide plunged the global economy into its deepest slump since the 1930s and wiped out millions of jobs.
Obviously testing should be expanded prior to lockdowns being relaxed.
In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is under pressure to reveal how the country will lift its lockdown. The restrictions are due to last through Thursday, but with hundreds of deaths still being reported daily — twice as many recently as Italy or Spain — it's unclear how the country can safely loosen the restrictions.
Clearly the UK cannot presently lift restrictions safely. The problem for countries that haven’t managed the COVID-19 outbreak properly is not only internal pressure from the business sector, it’s that countries safely lifting restrictions will be better placed to compete and take advantage of any global economy that manages to grow from the ashes.
Combine that dynamic with peer pressure from certain sectors of populations demanding an end to lockdowns and it’s little wonder many so-called leaders cannot see past the dollar signs in their eyes.
This dynamic also places pressure on countries to underreport COVID infection rates and related deaths, which in turn could postpone indefinitely the global economic recovery.
All the numbers are considered to be undercounts, due to testing issues, the problems of counting deaths in a pandemic and deliberate concealment by some governments.
Because of this documented dishonesty the world may never fully return to pre-COVID levels of economic activity. But I guess that’s the price we all pay for our over-reliance on capitalism.
