RE: Quarantine Chronicles: Day 1 official
I was really hoping Japan was in fact doing a stellar job, I have some friends there. My wife and I are originally from Canada and we are getting word that they are locking down airports, cancelling school and taking other measures. So far they have just 441 confirmed cases and Canada is a huge, sparsely populated country so we are hoping all our family there will be fine. Here in Spain it's going to be a huge mess. I'll be really surprised if it doesn't end up being the worst affected country in Europe. I have a friend here who is an anaesthesiologist at a major hospital and about three weeks ago we asked him how it's going. His response :"aaaah it's fine, this whole thing is a joke don't worry. They sent a letter around at the hospital telling us what to do to prevent the spread." So naturally we asked "What did the letter say to do?" He seriously said "I don't know, I didn't read it" That attitude is why Spain is where it is right now, and it is very indicative of the attitude of most Spanish health care workers, or was a few weeks ago. Now they are working around the clock to try and mitigate this.
Here many people have asked to be tested only to be turned away. Most docs here are very lacks and robotic. I'm thinking to try and go to the docs office and ask and see what they say when I ask to get tested. Japan should have been locked down, they have too much to lose with the largest population of people 65 and over ( 28 % of the population). But like a Japanese politician said months ago " the elderly are clogging up the pension and healthcare system, they should hurry up and die".
Yikes. That's brutal. If Japan doesn't act quickly that politician will get his wish. I've heard scary reports from Italy that they have de-prioritised elderly and won't admit them to the hospital because they are so overwhelmed that they will only take those likely to survive. Older ones are apparently being left to fend for themselves or die, but they are not getting help. I hope it's not true but every day I see more people confirming this. It will go this way in Spain too. They simply don't have enough hospital beds, doctors and supplies to handle the massive, sudden influx.