Covid-19 Exposes Hard Truths Around Us

The Covid-19 pandemic reveals much that is amiss in our modern-day political leadership and societies. Global responses are uncoordinated and collaboration has proven to be difficult as global agencies are constrained in what they can do. Simmering trade tensions between the US and China have also complicated the global situation.

Weak Political Leadership on Display

This pandemic can be seen as a litmus test of a leader’s character. Elected leaders are expected to exhibit solid leadership and empathy during such times. They should provide clarity, offer solace, and address citizens’ anxieties in a reassuring manner. Some rose to the occasion but others did not.

As the crisis unfolded, Angela Merkel’s exemplary address to the German nation in March 2020 is a study in directness, honesty, and empathy [1]. In my opinion, New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern has also been very effective in her briefings and actions while New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo, has displayed strong, fact-based leadership and cool-headedness in the face of unprecedented challenges.

In stark contrast, US President Donald Trump initially sought to underplay the coronavirus threat (calling it a hoax or that the disease would miraculously disappear on its own) and persistently blamed others for his shortcomings [2] [3]. For example, he pointed his finger squarely at the Obama administration for test kit shortages [4]. He even contradicted his own health expert during White House briefings [5]. In Australia, as jobs vanished at an alarming pace, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that there was the alternative for visitors and international students who were in the country under various visa arrangements and could support themselves to return to their home countries [6]. It was a missed opportunity to demonstrate compassion during such trying times.

Countries such as China and Indonesia lacked transparency and there were delays in disclosing vital information [7]. Even in the US — the bastion of free speech — hospitals threatened to fire doctors if the latter were to disclose their lack of protective gear to the media [8].The US and China blamed each other for the pandemic at a time when both superpowers needed to work closely together and exhibit global leadership [9]. Both countries also took to social media and traditional news channels in an attempt to rewrite the narrative on how the pandemic progressed [10]. Some countries even deemed it expedient to adopt an “each man for himself” posture — the US allegedly engaged in zero-sum games as the global shortage in surgical masks and medical equipment became acute [11].

At the time of writing, Taiwan did an excellent job in containing the spread of Covid-19 [12] but it did not receive official recognition for its efforts as the country was not a member of the World Health Organisation (WHO) (due to political pressure from China). The Taiwanese government even asserted that the WHO did not share information Taiwan provided on the coronavirus (including details on its cases and prevention methods) with member states [13]. If this claim can be proven, it would be a regrettable instance where political machinations took precedence over human lives!

Societal Values and Fault Lines Exposed

Societies worldwide also exposed their less than savoury character — many individuals put on a brazen display of self-centredness. Across the world, we witnessed panic buying and hoarding of toilet rolls, food supplies, and surgical masks at a time when the last were (and still are) critically needed by frontline healthcare workers [14]. In many countries, individuals did not obey lockdown rules [15]. In Singapore, penalties had to be imposed on those who flouted social-distancing rules or Stay-Home Notices. All these incidents show that many people are irresponsible and inconsiderate when it comes to protecting the safety of others.

Figure 1. Thousands Flocked to Sydney’s Bondi Beach Despite Social Distancing Restrictions

Photo credit: Twitter/hylchil

It is fair to say that the poorer and less-educated segments of society have borne the full brunt of this pandemic. In the workplace, many lower-income workers had to make the difficult decision of choosing between risking their personal health and protecting their meagre livelihoods. Companies’ responses to workers’ health protection concerns vary greatly as well. Even a global icon such as Amazon had employees complaining about inadequate steps taken at the company’s warehouses [16]. In Singapore, the huge outbreak of Covid-19 cases among its low-wage, migrant workers cast a spotlight on the workers’ welfare and crowded dormitories, denting the city state’s well-honed image [17].

Racism and discrimination have also reared their ugly heads during these difficult times [18]. The Economist reported the spread of racism against and among ethnic Chinese around the world [19]. The US President labelling the coronavirus as the China virus at one point certainly did not help matters. It is disheartening to see that there are still unenlightened individuals in this Age of Reason. In India, doctors were evicted from their homes out of fear of the coronavirus [20]. In Singapore, staff members of a nursing home were evicted by their landlords [21] due to fear of viral transmissions, and nurses in uniforms were ostracised while commuting on trains [22].

In China, many companies placed profits above ethics and morals even when it concerned matters of life and death. Millions of surgical masks that did not conform to international quality standards were exported to other countries. This was an unconscionable act that endangered frontline healthcare workers. This led to a number of European countries having to recall these products. The Chinese government finally took action by confiscating over 89 million masks, 418,000 pieces of protective gear, and ineffective disinfectants worth over 7.6 million yuan [23].

Post Covid-19: Governments Must Urgently Address Deficiencies

Covid-19 will certainly not be the last pandemic the world will ever experience. The world must not fall into collective amnesia and return to business-as-usual the moment the crisis is over. There is much work to be done.

Governments have a critical role to play in ensuring future preparedness. They must ensure the sufficiency of medical supplies ranging from surgical masks, personal protective equipment, ICU facilities, and ventilators. They have to safeguard critical logistics infrastructure and supply chains. During the pandemic, US laboratories faced logistical failures [24] and there was a furious scramble for surgical masks, test kits, and ventilators. Governments everywhere will have to revisit the level of their per capita healthcare spending. Small countries with constrained domestic resources will also have to reassess their food security situation as well as supply chains can be easily disrupted.

As cities went into lockdown all over the world and workers were forced to work from home, a country’s telecoms infrastructure became critical to ensure business continuity. Governments must ensure that communications service providers maintain adequate network resiliency and capacity as video conferencing and streaming video consumption surge. Online education and home-based learning require reliable broadband access. Netflix, Amazon, and YouTube have had to throttle their streaming bit-rates at the request of the European Union [25] as Internet traffic surged [26]. As economic transactions and business activities go online, cyber criminals will certainly take advantage of the situation. Governments and communications service providers must have robust cyber-security response plans in place as well [27].

The cost of government inaction can be severe. During this current crisis alone, the average worker and small business owner have borne a disproportionate share of the fallout. Many are facing job losses or business closures. Meanwhile, the poor are in danger of being pushed into abject poverty. The International Labour Organization claimed that about 400 million workers from India’s informal sector are likely to be pushed deeper into poverty due to Covid-19 [28]. It is apparent that a health crisis such as this one can easily mutate into an economic, social, and even political crisis. Having strong social safety nets to support vulnerable segments of society is now an urgent necessity.

Governments must direct relevant national agencies (e.g., agriculture/veterinary departments) to establish stringent sanitary/hygiene measures for pig and poultry farms, livestock facilities, and wet markets. Such sites can easily become staging grounds for cross-species viral infections. Strict regulations and regular site inspections are required (particularly in emerging countries) so as to reduce the probability of zoonotic disease transmissions.

During the pandemic, social media is rife with unreliable and false information that may possibly endanger lives [29]. Sometimes, the government itself can be the cause of confusion. For example, the Malaysian Health Minister claimed that if people kept their mouths and throats constantly moist by drinking water, this would help wash the virus down the esophagus and be killed by our stomach acid [30]. Such misleading information can be very dangerous particularly at a time when countries are trying hard to manage the crisis. Governments have to give serious thought to how propagation of fake news can be contained while striking a delicate balance with freedom of speech. Governments have to engage social media companies and explore ways to curtail the spread of false information. Governments must also be transparent and timely in their communications, and be credible and consistent in their messages.

Global Coordination and Cooperation are Necessary

In the face of a pandemic, a global coordinated response is needed but there is no effective global agency to undertake this task today. Governments had been slow to act and even the WHO was late in declaring Covid-19 a pandemic. As far back as 2015, Bill Gates had sounded out that pandemics represented a major threat to humanity [31] [32] but the world did not heed the warning. Now, the world can no longer afford the luxury of inaction. It must develop the ability to mount swift and coordinated responses. Unfortunately, global leadership to realise this is sorely lacking today — the US, in a presidential-election year, appears more intent on playing the blame game and intensifying its rivalry with China. Regrettably, the US has also decided not to participate in the WHO’s global initiative to speed the development, production, and distribution of drugs and vaccines against Covid-19 [33].

Currently, the effectiveness of global agencies such as the WHO are hampered by the lack of supranational authority to act in the collective interest of the world. A new set of engagement protocols is needed to avoid agencies such as the WHO becoming hamstrung by parochial politics. The WHO needs to be revamped, not starved of funding [34]. The WHO is urgently needed as a forum for sharing best practices and a platform to coordinate vaccine development plans. Member states must have the courage of conviction to set things right. They must enlarge the scope of the WHO’s powers and imbue it with the mandate to act.

At present, member states can choose to ignore advice from the WHO. For example, Wuhan has decided to reopen its wet markets (similar to the one which was an early infection site for the Covid-19 pandemic) [35] despite the WHO urging China to close down such markets [36]. The United Nation’s biodiversity chief also called for a global ban on wet markets but this seemed to have fallen on deaf ears [37]. Given the absence of a powerful global agency, it is incumbent on other countries to apply political and moral pressure on China and emerging countries such as Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam to ban wet markets and sales of wild animal meat. All nations must learn to prioritise mankind’s collective welfare above their respective idiosyncratic, gastronomical tastes. In fact, there should also be a global ban on the trade of exotic/wild animal meat.

Figure 2. A Wet Market in Shanghai, China

Photo credit: Getty Images

Companies Must Embrace Digital

Large swathes of businesses are impacted by the pandemic. Companies must now focus on ensuring business resiliency. Business continuity and disaster recovery planning must become regular features in scenario planning exercises (business partners need to be included too — here, companies will need to identify and assess who are their critical partners). Companies must also ensure that their supply chains are robust enough to withstand external shocks. Such exercises must no longer be regarded as “check the box” activities. Companies have to reassess their financial risk management and capital adequacy requirements. In the past, many public companies spent a lot of cash on share buybacks, leaving insufficient reserves for rainy days.

Companies will have to accelerate their digital business transformation initiatives [38]. Such initiatives are now essential for survival as the Covid-19 pandemic ushers in a new normal for them. Such transformations will encompass changes to organizational culture, operational processes, and technology investments. Over time, as digital work practices take hold, physical offices will become less important.

From an information technology perspective, more companies are expected to embrace cloud computing as the technology is highly scalable and flexible to handle sudden shifts in demand conditions [39]. As more employees work from home and remotely access enterprise applications and databases, traditional on-premise IT infrastructure may not be able to cope with the demand. Many companies will also have to ensure that their digital operations can scale quickly to handle the surge in online shopping and transactions. Companies must also ensure that their info-communications infrastructure are properly secured — with the increase in telecommuting, attack surfaces and vectors will increase.

This is also a time for companies to demonstrate compassion and empathy to workers. The workers’ safety and well-being must be given appropriate attention. Top management has always sung the refrain that their workers are their most valuable assets. Now is the time to “walk the talk”. Top management can send a message of solidarity to workers by making sacrifices together with them (e.g. salary reductions). It is all too easy to retrench workers when things take a turn for the worse, but this must always be the last resort.

In Closing …

Despite the daunting challenges, we can still put things right if we set our minds to it. The world must put aside its petty squabbles and come together to tackle this common enemy. The SARS-CoV-2 virus does not discriminate between nationalities or ethnicities and neither should we. This pandemic is an opportunity for the peoples of the world to help one another and display their better selves. Nations can come together and collaborate to overcome this pandemic, and emerge all the stronger. The choice is ours to make.

References

[1] The Leader of the Free World Gives a Speech, and She Nails It, Intelligencer

[2] Trump calls coronavirus Democrats' 'new hoax', NBC News

[3] The Trump administration’s botched coronavirus response, explained, Vox

[4] Trump Blames Obama Decision for Coronavirus Test Kit Shortage, Bloomberg

[5] Trump claims coronavirus is under control -- contradicting reality and his own top expert, CNN

[6] As coronavirus spreads, 'it's time to go home' Scott Morrison tells visitors and international students, ABC News

[7] 'We don't want people to panic': Jokowi says on lack of transparency about COVID cases, Jakarta Post

[8] Hospitals Tell Doctors They’ll Be Fired If They Speak Out About Lack of Gear, Bloomberg

[9] The US-China coronavirus blame game is undermining diplomacy, The Guardian

[10] The blame game: the origins of Covid-19 and the anatomy of a fake news story, South China Morning Post

[11] Germany and France blame Americans for playing dirty over masks, Straits Times

[12] Taiwan's coronavirus response is among the best globally, CNN

[13] Taiwan says WHO not sharing coronavirus information it provides, pressing complaints, Reuters

[14] 'It's crazy': Panic buying forces stores to limit purchases of toilet paper and masks, CNN

[15] Packed Bondi Beach sparks outrage from many amid coronavirus crisis, 7News

[16] ‘I’m worried that I have infected 1000 people in the last three days’: Amazon workers reveal all the reasons why they’re afraid to go to work, Business Insider

[17] 'We’re in a prison': Singapore's migrant workers suffer as Covid-19 surges back, The Guardian

[18] Racist Attacks Against Asians Continue to Rise as the Coronavirus Threat Grows, People

[19] The coronavirus spreads racism against—and among—ethnic Chinese, The Economist

[20] Indian doctors evicted over coronavirus transmission fears: Medical body, ChannelNewsAsia

[21] Some staff members at Lee Ah Mooi evicted by landlords, says nursing home hit by COVID-19, ChannelNewsAsia

[22] Nurses in S’pore wary of being ostracised by public, even as work takes its toll during coronavirus outbreak, Today

[23] Coronavirus: China seizes over 89 million shoddy face masks, Straits Times

[24] Despite Testing Improvements, U.S. Labs Face Endless Logistical Failures, SupplyChainBrain

[25] Amazon follows Netflix’s lead, reducing streaming quality in Europe, TechCrunch

[26] Early effects of COVID-19 lockdowns on service provider networks: the networks soldier on!, Nokia

[27] Global cyber attacks on the increase during COVID-19 crisis, securityworldmarket.com

[28] COVID-19 may double poverty in India, The Financial Express

[29] During this coronavirus pandemic, ‘fake news’ is putting lives at risk: UNESCO, UN News

[30] Health Minister's 'warm water method' to kill coronavirus questioned, The Star

[31] Bill Gates warned of a deadly pandemic for years — and said we wouldn't be ready to handle it, CBS News

[32] Bill Gates TED Talk Transcript from 2015: Warns of Pandemics, Epidemics, Rev

[33] U.S. says will not take part in WHO global drugs, vaccine initiative launch, Reuters

[34] Coronavirus: US to halt funding to WHO, says Trump, BBC

[35] China's 'wet markets' like the one where Covid-19 outbreak began have reopened, Mirror

[36] Coronavirus: WHO urges China to close ‘dangerous’ wet market as stalls in Wuhan begin to reopen, Independent

[37] Ban wildlife markets to avert pandemics, says UN biodiversity chief, The Guardian

[38] How Covid-19 is shaping digital transformation, TechRadar

[39] Cloud Scalability Shows Its Worth in the Wake of COVID-19, InformationWeek