What changes would you like to see in the future, as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic?

The epidemic is just stark confirmation of what any fool should appreciate. Our country requires a uniform national standard of healthcare that includes EVERYONE. We can continue to duck this reality, but the misery and economic cost of ignoring this truth will bite us in the ass until we stand up and fix it.

Can’t say it any better!^^^^^

10 million people lose their job – and therefore their healthcare – in the last 2 weeks, and there are people still trying to justify the existence of a private health insurance industry. During a f*cking pandemic.

For shit’s sake – the ability of people to get healthcare shouldn’t be tied to a job. It should be a right. There was absolutely no excuse before. But now there shouldn’t even be a discussion.

I totally agree @hmmmmmm but you will get the health care insurance providers, and the conservatives fight to the death to keep it private, and their view there is always medicaid or private health care insurance.
YEAH, I wonder how many private health insurance providers are taking new clients with this pandemic hitting the world?

They are reinstating a Pandemic Prediction Center. Ended it last September !

WTF the horses, cows, goats, chickens, geese, ducks and everything else are out.

Trump your cost cutting and anti-science is costing lives (I hear a rumor everyone within 50 feet of him is getting COVID-19 test while others go without).

Don’t ever stop Pandemic Research.

People stopping to vote for right wing populists whose ego makes them completely incapable of properly handling a crisis. *cough drumpf *cough

Thank you, @stanleybmanly.

To give the options for Skip the Dishes with debit cards and cash and not just credit card. I would like to be able to walk-thru drive-thrus in fast food restaurants.
I would like Dairy Queen to deliver Banana Splits. I would have rapid stocking of toilet paper so we can manage a run on necessities.

Also, as I mentioned here, I’d love to see people recognize the importance of workers that are often referred to as “unskilled workers” – delivery workers, supermarket stockers/cashiers/bakers/deli staff, cooks, dishwashers, farm workers, warehouse workers, cleaning services, etc. They are treated and paid like shit. But this pandemic should open peoples’ eyes to how essential and crucial they are.

Nicely said @hmmmmmm but don’t bet on it, once this pandemic is over those workers will be treated like shit once again, after all the true GOD is the almighty dollar, get offended if ya want but tell me that it isn’t true.

I am sorry it had to come to this, but rural voters are about to see the consequences of voting for smaller government and against socialized medicine. I would like to see them recognize the connection.

Well before the epidemic, I was reading and hearing stories on the radio about the shrinking availability of doctors and hospitals in rural areas.

NPR – May 21, 2019 – The Struggle To Hire And Keep Doctors In Rural Areas Means Patients Go Without Care

That we never have an idiot for president again.

1. No more handshaking.

2. More work from home.

3. Telemedicine across state lines, not only telemed companies, but our own doctors doing some telemed or phone appointments for follow up and simple matters that don’t need to be seen in person. Also, for contagious disease like colds and flu. No one needs to go to the doctor for a cold that is just stuffy head and no fever, not unless they have serious preexisting conditions, why are you getting everyone sick? Even flu typically if you are bad enough to need to see a doctor in person, you probably need an emergency room, but I don’t meant that as a blanket statement, only you know how unwell you feel, I don’t. Special hospital areas or units that deal with contagious people.

4. Socialized medicine and no more gouging for any medical condition. No more 80,000 medications that companies make multimillions or even billions. I don’t mind a profit, I just mind astronomical numbers, I can’t fathom right now that people hospitalized for COVID19 will actually receive a bill for their care.

5. No more feeling things can never go wrong and less borrowing. All these highs in markets, and then crashing low, didn’t we learn anything? Stock market crash of 1929, dotcom crash in 99–2000 whenever it was. Real estate 12 years ago. Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, fires, bad things happen. Can’t we just be happy with mediocrity, save more, sacrifice, and be able to get through bad times without so much suffering.

6. Serious effort to get rid of the national deficit.

7. Requiring large companies that make huge profits for their stock holders to kitty money for temporary slows or stoppages of business. They should be able to handle a shut down of a month once every 5–10 years. We ask individuals to have 6 months of expenses in savings to be prudent.

8. Prepare for more people out of work as robotics and automation ramp up. robots wound be breathing germs on me.

9. No more $10 million CEO salaries.

Anyone coughing in public should be boxed to death by a kangaroo playing a kazoo.

The dependence on China and other countries for our medicines and medical supplies. It seems to me to be an insane policy.

You need to provide a source for wild claims like that, @Wsmiller195

It is insane being so dependent on China and other countries for medication. Not only does China have too many regulatory problems where we find carcinogens in medications, but there have been instances of drugs not containing proper amounts of the medication in the pill or vile. All countries can have contamination problems, but it fairly wildly held that there is greater concern for medication coming out of China.

And I ask you for a source for your claims @JLeslie.

I would say my mother, but I know that won’t go over well.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharmaceutical_industry_in_China

Quality

The Quality of drugs and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) made by Chinese pharmaceutical companies is often poor.

In the past three years 2015–2017, there were 35 FDA warning letters to Chinese pharmaceutical companies citing serious Data Integrity issues, including data deletion or manipulation or fabrication of test results, see “An Analysis Of 2017 FDA Warning Letters On Data Integrity” By Barbara Unger, Unger Consulting Inc. https://www.pharmaceuticalonline.com/doc/an-analysis-of-fda-warning-letters-on-data-integrity-0003

See the long list of Chinese pharmaceutical companies which have been placed on Import Alert by the FDA due to serious noncompliance with Good Manufacturing Procedures http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cms_ia/importalert_189.html

See FDA Warning Letters detailing serious noncompliance with Good Manufacturing Procedures: https://www.fda.gov/iceci/enforcementactions/WarningLetters/default.htm

Some other articles:

https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/20/policymakers-worry-china-drug-exports-088126

This one from back in September 2019, but you can go back years and find concerns for being dependent on China for medication and the quality controls https://www.healthline.com/health-news/china-control-over-your-prescription-drugs

If you google yourself, you’ll get pages of articles related to COVID19 and even politics I would say with Trump and his whole China thing, but some of it is valid, and like I said, has been a concern for a long time. The Wikipedia links go back before that. My mom retired from the FDA many years ago, and even back then it was a concern.

We are also dependent on India for medications and they are about to become a disaster area far beyond anything we will endure. What we will see is peanuts compared to what third worlders are facing when the virus hits their communities.

And I say that as someone who is scared for his immediate vulnerable family members.

My sister is a pharmacist and warned me to fill my prescriptions for a few months because we depend on China for the bulk of production. She did not mention concerns about quality of production. Though admittedly that wasn’t the topic at hand.

NPR article:
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/03/12/814623335/how-coronavirus-is-affecting-the-u-s-pharmaceutical-supply

Interesting @raum. Thank you.

@Call_Me_Jay Yes, India too. They make a ton of our medication there also. Any dependence on other nations is scary just in terms of supply. With China some worry the Chinese could use it almost like germ warfare, that they could haunt shipments and our citizens would get sick or some even die. That might be too much like conspiracy theory. But with any country, simply if they have production or transportation problems we could suffer. The country could have no bad intentions, but since the medicine is an ocean away, it’s just a logistical problem that could be catastrophic.

With China some worry the Chinese could use it almost like germ warfare)

Please don’t spread junk like that around.

I’ll assume you’re being funny.

No. He’s serious. Don’t spread crap like that around. There are too many gullible people out t here who would absolutely panic over a comment like that. It’s irresponsible.

Just caught a typo. Should be halt, not haunt.

@Dutchess_III I don’t think China would do it. That’s why I wrote it’s a conspiracy theory.

Let’s wait to see if he was serious or it was a joke.

I wasn’t joking.

Back to the original question – handshaking should be replaced with the split-finger Vulcan salute. We might as well get something cool out of the disaster.

@Call_Me _Jay Some people cant do the Vulcan greeting. I like the Jewish history behind it though. I’m fine with bowing or nothing.

I thought maybe you were joking because you used the word spreading like spreading a virus. That idea wasn’t my creation, it was something I read.

I don’t think China would do something purposefully like that.

I just saw the Italian PM call for a global cease fire during this time of fighting the virus. Maybe this horror will bring in a great time of peace. We can only hope.