Thread by @shawnapandya

Watching #Pandemic on @CNN right now - produced in 2017 about #SARS #MERS #H1N1 #HIV & other infectious diseases...and our failure to learn from previous pandemics is concerning. #unseenenemy

Some very interesting points about the #ethics of forcible #vaccination (done in order to eradicate smallpox), the role of rumors undermining authorities, especially in the age of social media & the immediate leap to close borders after the + diagnosis of 1st #ebola case in #US.

With the 2014-6 #Ebola outbreak, I wonder what combination of the 90% mortality rate or the point of origin played in the lack of resistance to enforced quarantine for those returning from abroad?

Looking back at #zika outbreak 2015-7, I remember conference attendance decreasing significantly. Maybe it was the dramatic images of microcephalic infants?

I think this is part of the trouble with convincing people of the threat of #COVID19 - it doesn't have the dramatic 90% mortality or microcephaly in new newborns. It will be mild and insidious - convincing people of #prevention has always been a tough sell.

The value of *potentially* saving a stranger's life by not infecting them when it infringes upon daily life will take a shift in our personal outlook, as well as fighting against the innate way in which our brains value rewards.

Regardless of the disease, one specialist identities the keys to #pandemic control:

1. Prevention
2. Immediate/precise diagnosis
3. Early intervention

#COVID19 is no different. But we are currently failing. A #vaccine would be best. But we are still a ways away from this.

Thus, what we need to commit to other methods of prevention. We *must* #FlattenTheCurve. Commit to #socialdistancing. Cancel all non-essential meetings, conferences, gatherings & travel. #WashYourHands #StayHome if sick.

We need better detection, too. NP swabs for #COVID19 are estimated to be 75% effective at detection, 84% when combined oral swabs. We *need* to commit to investing in better detection.

We need to hold our leadership accountable too, using science, facts & emerging data. #Listentothescientists

To PM @BorisJohnson - listen to the scientists. We don't have enough data to support building #herdimmunity. We don't know that we can't be reinfected.

To @realDonaldTrump - invest in pandemic leadership. Please.

Premier @jkenney & @shandro: pushing through with healthcare cuts in the face of a worsening pandemic is a recipe for disaster. You need to invest more now than ever in healthcare. Keep Albertans safe. This is for our future.

The foreshadowing in this #Pandemic documentary (from 2017!) is chilling:

"We are overdue for a global flu pandemic. We are woefully unprepared. The next pandemic could kill up to 2M, trillions in economic losses and societal collapse."

But there is hope:

"When it comes to #pandemic planning, we ALL have a role to play in prevention. We are ALL on the front line."

☝🏽☝🏽☝🏽THIS☝🏽☝🏽☝🏽

We are living "the next global flu pandemic" right now, and this is how we minimize the damage.

Slow the rate of #COVID19 transmission. We've already talked about how we as individuals can #FlattenTheCurve.

Companies, large organizations and insurers need to step up.

1. Stop asking for doctors' notes for time off work. This is an unnecessary burden on the healthcare system.
2. Pay your workers for forced time off - Mark Cuban & the @EdmontonOilers have committed to this.

3. Don't penalize workers for forced time off. Same with students & academics. This is a pandemic. We need common sense. Threatening firings and failed grades puts even the best-intentioned individuals in the difficult position of no protecting themselves or society.

Finally, think of our end goals with #COVID19 fallout:
1. Protect the immunologically vulnerable.
2. Mitigate healthcare system over-capacity. #FlattenTheCurve
3. Minimize economic fallout.

This is a tough situation, globally. No one is doubting that. But that's what we as humans do: adapt and overcome.

And that's what we have to do now. We have a choice in how to handle #COVID19.

The choices we make in this moment will reverberate for years to come.

Today, let us make the more disciplined choices, the more difficult choices, the less convenient choices, to steer us away from our darkest futures, to shape the future we want.

We've got this. ❤

/fin

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