COVID-19 is an infectious viral disease spreading rapidly around the world at a higher rate than other Coronaviruses including MERS-CoV or SARS. Although the rate of people with the risk of death is only about 4.4%, many people are showing symptoms that require medical interventions including breathing support (Cowling & Aiello, 2020). Since the majority of people are asymptomatic, many are spreading it without even realizing that they are exposing many to a great risk. This post explores the importance of taking control measures while refuting the argument that the virus should be allowed to take its course.
Failing to take effective measures against the disease can influence faster spreading and infect many people within a short period. This means that the number of people requiring medical attention would increase drastically. Since the availability of health resources would not increase as the demand rises, many people are more likely to die following the COVID-19 related complications (Ruan et al., 2020). Overwhelming the health facilities would mark the beginning of massive deaths since there would be inadequate health professionals and equipment.
I tend to refute the argument that government should allow the virus to spread naturally since it means exposing elderly people, individuals with weak immunity, and those with underlying conditions to the risk of death. Everybody has a right to life and any responsible government must do all that is possible to protect its people (Cowling & Aiello, 2020). As noted in the utilitarianism theory, a good decision should be evaluated based on its results. Failing to act is an unethical decision because it would cause a devastating outcome and cause more deaths.
In conclusion, the government should not hesitate to take all the necessary measures to hinder the spread of the deadly Coronavirus and protect its people. The argument suggesting that corrective actions should not be taken is inappropriate since it disproportionally exposes the elderly, people with underlying conditions, and weak immunity to the risk of developing complications and death. Moreover, many people would become sick and it would overwhelm health services contributing to more deaths.
References
Cowling, B. J., & Aiello, A. E. (2020). Public health measures to slow community spread of coronavirus disease 2019. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 221(11), 1749-1751. Web.
Ruan, L., Wen, M., Zeng, Q., Chen, C., Huang, S., Yang, S.,… & Zhuge, Q. (2020). New measures for the Coronavirus disease 2019 response: A lesson from the Wenzhou experience. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 71(15), 866-869. Web.