HP 609 Week 4 Assignment 1: Health Policy Event

HP 609 Week 4 Assignment 1: Health Policy Event

HP 609 Week 4 Assignment 1: Health Policy Event

Summary

During this summary, Dr. Mina discussed the challenges faced when the Corona Virus started. For instance, the federal testing kits were not working, there was a shortage in supply for test kits and swabs, and a shortage of workers. Other challenges faced included testing laboratories being backlogged. Since this was a new disease, the process of identifying what it was a challenge of its own.

The world has experienced pandemics before, but nothing prepared us for the 2020 pandemic. This new virus was the Corona Virus, and it was affecting people 2-14 days after incubation (Schive, 2020). Because of the quick spread of this virus, a lot of people got sick, and many died from it. There were so many challenges with new virus simply because it was unknown; putting interventions in place, therefore, was a challenge. As the health organizations were trying to figure out how to handle, protect, and treat this disease, interventions were put in place. These included a worldwide lockdown for all people and businesses, apart from essential establishments like hospital, grocery stores. and gas stations. Additionally, curfews, social-distancing, mandated handwashing, and most importantly face masks for anyone over the age of 4-year were implemented.

This pandemic brought about various challenges; economical, mental, and social. One of the challenges faced during the pandemic was testing laboratory backlogging (Mina, 2020). Since there was an overly increased number of tests than what laboratories were regularly used to, it was overwhelming for the technicians. There was a disproportionate number of supplies: there were more kits available than there were swabs or vice versa. This shortage resulted in the inability to test people. This placed the testing procedures on hold and resulted in increased spreading of the virus because people could not tell who was sick and who was not, as people could get infected and remain symptom free for days. The laboratories were forced to start sourcing their own kits due to this shortage. These laboratories had to improvise, in order to keep up with the high demand.

As an economy, there was a lot of losses for retailers and employers. We saw economic growth fall below 31.40 percent and unemployment increased by 14.7 percent (Patton, 2020). People were forced out of jobs because the employers could not afford to pay them, and they had to file for unemployment benefits in order to survive. Uncertainty was inevitable as majority of the families were barely making ends meet and wondering how they would survive the pandemic. There has always been a fluctuating poverty rate in the U.S, with the last rating being 12 percent in March 2020 (Boghani, 2020), however this all changed with the pandemic, leading to an increase to 19.4 percent in April (Boghani, 2020). This rate made it hard for people to provide food for their families, pay bills, or rent. To aid with this, the government provided stimulus check to people who qualified for the assistance.

With the pandemic, we also saw an increase in mental health problems. A raise in mental breakdowns, depression, suicide, anxious

were high. 4 out of 10 adults were reported to exhibit symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder (Panchal et al., 2021). People with mental health problems are not used to abrupt change of routine, and the lockdown impacted them severely. For those that did not have a strong support system ended up committing suicide.

With the lockdown, people were isolated from families and friends, especially those that relay on their families and friends for help. The elderly in nursing homes and those at home alone were truly affected. People resorted to visiting their loved ones through the windows, and if they were lucky, they got to talk to them on phone. No visitations were allowed for long term facilities as a way of preventing the spread of the virus.

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With the pandemic going on, interventions were implemented in order to stop or prevent the spread of the Corona Virus. In addition, mandatory testing of all employees that were actively working in healthcare were implemented. One of the first interventions was an order for everyone to wear a mask. These were mandatory everywhere. People had to wear masks to go to grocery stores and out in public. This would limit the transmission of this virus. On top of this, people were to stay six feet apart. People had a hard time following these orders, however with time, they adjusted to the new normal. Additionally, a lockdown was ordered everywhere for the first two weeks, which were later extended. All schools, public, sports arenas, bars, movie theatres, and non-essential places of employment were all closed.  This also helped decrease the rapid spread of this virus, since we were not sure what it was and how to stop it.

The presidential administration and senate agreeing to send stimulus package to people was much needed relief (Gale and Enda, 2020). This money helped families cover some bills, buy food and necessities for their families.

Mental health call lines were put in place for people that needed help. Disaster distress helpline and local crisis help lines were suggested to be used (suicidepreventionlifeline.org). People were able to utilize these services and got the help they needed.

Long term facilities that were able to, came up communications methods like using personal cellphones, iPad, laptops for families to communicate. While it was not face to face interactions, it was better than not seeing them at all. For those that had loved ones near end of life, special arrangements were made for families to come in and say their goodbyes.

As an ongoing intervention, everyone needs to get vaccinated. Since the vaccines were made available, 41 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated (Carlsen et al.,2021). As the number of people getting vaccinated increases, we will soon have herd immunity, which will help with prevention of the virus.

References

Boghani, P. (2020, December 8). How COVID Has Impacted Poverty in America. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/covid-poverty-america/.

Carlsen, A., Huang, P., Levitt, Z., & Wood, D. (2021, May 30). How Is The COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign Going In Your State? NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/01/28/960901166/how-is-the-covid-19-vaccination-campaign-going-in-your-state.

Emotional Wellbeing During the COVID-19 Outbreak. Lifeline. (n.d.). https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/current-events/supporting-your-emotional-well-being-during-the-covid-19-outbreak/.

Panchal, N., Kamal, R., Cox, C., & Garfield, R. (2021, April 14). The Implications of COVID-19 for Mental Health and Substance Use. KFF. https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/the-implications-of-covid-19-for-mental-health-and-substance-use/.

Patton, M. (2020, December 16). The Impact Of Covid-19 On U.S. Economy And Financial Markets. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikepatton/2020/10/12/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-us-economy-and-financial-markets/?sh=5aaa49be2d20.

Schive, K. (2020, October 2). Covid-19 Updates. I’ve been exposed to COVID-19; how soon will I be contagious? | MIT Medical. https://medical.mit.edu/covid-19-updates/2020/10/exposed-to-covid-19-how-soon-contagious.