Expanding Our World View

Now that Canada and the U.S. are nearing herd immunity, I personally feel like I have the energy and courage to look outside of my own bubble. I have been too overwhelmed and scared to consider what is going on in the rest of the world. How are more impoverished nations dealing with Covid, when they don’t have the same kind of health infrastructure or record keeping as first world countries.

Surprisingly, Africa has not seen such huge numbers of cases. Things are just starting to ramp up, especially in South Africa and Nigeria. Some sources attribute lower case numbers to a hotter climate and also there are less people traveling into Africa, thus lowering transmission between countries. However, the survival rates are grim once they have it; they simply do not have the kinds of intensive care units and equipment that we are fortunate enough to have. South America is doing much worse, especially Brazil and Argentina, as well as India, whose new variant is spreading at an alarming rate.

Now that the rich countries of the world are managing better, they should be turning their attention towards helping the poor countries to get vaccinated and also sending more equipment abroad. Even though our own economies are in dire straits, saving lives and achieving worldwide immunity should be moved up the agenda.

Personally, I will make a donation to Doctor’s Without Borders and the  U.N. High Commission for Refugees, who strive to help the world’s most disenfranchised people. I know that most workers are struggling to make ends meet right now, so really it is up to the G-7 to step up their game and support the World Health Organization. 

I am trying to predict when the world as a whole will see the back of Covid. I would like to think that in another year, we will be free of this devastating scourge. When do you think this will all be over?