An Evaluation of the COVID-19 Pandemic with China and Islam
Comparing Responses to COVID-19
How Two Global Nations Differ in Crisis Management
Elliot Schendel
April 27, 2020
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With the world self-isolating and restricting nearly all aspects of life, there are a number of countries implementing severe legal restrictions for the betterment of the general public and the global population at large. Whether it be closing off all national borders or utilizing a national curfew, the world is taking steps to mitigate the effects caused by COVID-19 through extraordinary measures and unified cooperation from the global populus. Arguably the most interesting developments of handling the Coronavirus global pandemic come from the most influential nations on the planet: the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China. The latter is the home to the beginnings of the virus while the former sees the majority of global confirmed cases and has the most recorded deaths due to the virus, as referenced by the descriptive statistics measure from worldometer.com. This article briefly compares the two nations as it relates their handlings of the devastating global pandemic.
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China, the home of the global outbreak, has (and still is taking) among the strictest measures to mitigate the spread of the virus. The Communist led government implemented a number of safeguards to minimize the spread. Door-to-door health checks, facial-recognition softwares, and a zero tolerance lockdown are only a handful of operations undertaken by their government to promote national safety. According to an article written by USA Today, health officials who identified infected citizens were mandated to remove them from their homes, regardless if they were a child or not, to a federal hospital to be cared for. Apartment managers were mandated to inspect any delivered goods or services in their complexes, and help the federal government implement the ‘zero tolerance’ home quarantine emergency orders. Through a mobile application, their government coded and controlled the flow of persons in stores, restaurants and other public areas. They even went as far as to publicly shame those who were not using proper protections. Travel restrictions were also heavily monitored and restricted, based on the nature and duration of the journey. Again these are only a few of China’s extreme measures to control COVID-19 in their nation, and is quite different from how Americans have responded.
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The United States of America has had arguably the worst response to the global pandemic among its allies, trade partners and the global community in general. The Executive Office led by President Donald Trump has been slow to respond to the pandemic when it reached the U.S. Prior to the beginnings of national testing, many states like Washington and New York have taken matters in their own hands while awaiting a national level response from the nation’s capital. The President has made a number of questionable predictions, like warmer weather in the spring and summer will help in weakening the virus, referenced by New York Magazine. Additionally, the Trump led administration closed their northern and southernmost borders until the 21st of May, allowing American border officials to deport migrants trying to illegally come to the country, according to an article by Mica Rosenberg and Ted Hesson on Reuters.com. With respect to the economic side of this pandemic, the IRS is offering ‘tax help We are offering tax help for taxpayers, businesses, tax-exempt organizations and others – including health plans – affected by coronavirus (COVID-19)’ through tax relief and economic impact payments. Although the American federal government has taken steps to help the American people, there are still issues that have arisen as it relates to the federal government’s level of seriousness in its response.
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One area that is being called into question is the dispensing of personal protective equipment among various states. Some states like New York that are experiencing comparably higher contagion and death counts still struggle to effectively and efficiently respond to the increasing need of care for New Yorkers. The federal government has claimed that they have sent out additional healthcare related equipment to adversely affected states, but these states also claim that they have not received additional federal support. Another questionable practice being implemented by the White House is the president putting his name on stimulus checks for Americans who qualify for the monetary assistance as part of the relief package recently passed by Congress in March, according to an article by Justin Wise of The Hill . Congressional representatives on the other side of the American political spectrum disagree with this proposed plan, claiming that it exploits American taxpayers to promote the President's personal interests.
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The last controversial aspect of the American’s response worth mentioning comes from a newly developed three phase plan. According to an article published by Politico, these plans were created to maintain a safe transition from the quarantined lifestyle to the return of normal behaviors. Phase one describes how social venues like gyms and restaurants can reopen provided they adhere to strict social distancing. The second phase describes how schools and nonessential travel can begin again with what is described to be ‘moderate’ social distancing rules. Phase two also describes how vulnerable people should continue to self-quarantine. The final phase, phase three, discusses how employers can resume traditional work and how vulnerable individuals can resume public interactions with the public with social distancing. Where the plan comes into question is that this could allow for a development of a second wave of infected persons to develop the Coronavirus, causing the nation to relapse and lose valuable progress on fighting this dangerous virus.
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The United States and China have both seen a number of people afflicted with the Coronavirus, and have taken steps to mitigate the spread in their respective countries. To varying levels of success. Both have seen criticisms from their global allies and trade partners to varying levels, for better or for worse. As the world begins recovering from COVID-19, the spotlight will be firmly planted on these two global superpowers as they lead global efforts to return to their old ways of life, or at least attempt to. Only time will tell how successful the world has been in deterring the spread of the Coronavirus, but in these uncertain times, all we can really hope for is the best.
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References
https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus-tax-relief-and-economic-impact-payments
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/16/trump-reopening-plan-191959
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-immigration-ex-idUSKCN2262O6
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2020/04/01/coronavirus-covid-19-china-radical-measures-lockdowns-mass-quarantines/2938374001/
PROGRESSION OF THE VIRUS
MIDDLE EAST
The first most important thing to touch on when touching on the topics of how two completely different areas are handling the COVID-19 pandemic, is to note how completely different the government and politics in the areas are. China had the ability to essentially completely lock down and monitor everything that happened in their country to plateau the pandemic, and it worked! However when you look at the countries inside of the Middle East, there’s a whole lot of political unrest. There are thousands upon thousands of refugees and people who simply can’t take the steps necessary to stop this pandemic.
China
So what exactly is China doing to stop the pandemic? We do know that China houses ground zero for the virus, and it’s quite interesting to follow how exactly they combatted this. The country immediately had social distancing rules in place, shutting down sporting events and theatres. They went as far as monitoring all citizens with cameras to make sure that all were following the rules in place. All unnecessary gatherings of people were shut down. It is the law anywhere you go in China you must have a mask on at all times. This aggressive stand against the pandemic is why China’s number of cases is now lower than 300. This should be a statement to the world, that if aggressive measures are taken all can return to their normal lives faster than thought before.
Middle East
Many different countries in the Middle East are taking drastically different approaches to COVID-19, and it’s quite fascinating to the eye of an American who’s only restriction is the government requesting that I maintain social distancing for my own and others safety. Some countries are now going as far as actually militarizing to maintain curfews, disinfect storefronts, and completely shutting down their cities. Jordan is not allowing anybody in, or out of their country. As well as Iran, simply not allowing America to help the country throughout this process. It seems that Iran is suspicious that this virus was actually released by America, and the country's representatives have stated this on national news. While tracking the numbers, it seems that the Middle East is not yet close to plateauing the Pandemic’s spread. Which would be hard in so many countries with political unrest, as well as in some situations thousands of people unable to receive help because they are migrant workers, and it is common practice for employers to take these people’s documentation so that they can’t flee the country. The Middle East looks to have a much longer struggle than China has.
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