The global pandemic from the coronavirus COVID-19 is not only a deadly infectious pathogen but also many people believe retribution for how we humans are treat nature. The origins of the outbreak came from people eating contaminated bats as described on my blog from January 30th. Cleaning the environment with disinfectants can kill the virus. Logic tells us that a clean environment including pure air, food and water are essential to our survival.
According to The Guardian article on destruction of nature being responsible for COVID-19, “Yet human health research seldom considers the surrounding natural ecosystems, says Richard Ostfeld, distinguished senior scientist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York. He and others are developing the emerging discipline of planetary health, which looks at the links between human and ecosystem health. There’s misapprehension among scientists and the public that natural ecosystems are the source of threats to ourselves. It’s a mistake. Nature poses threats, it is true, but it’s human activities that do the real damage. The health risks in a natural environment can be made much worse when we interfere with it, he says.”
The governments that have been most effective in combating Covid-19 have strong national systems that are rapidly testing and isolating infected people. Places like Singapore that have strong environmental controls is getting top recognition for responding to the pandemic. I visited there in 1994 and they fined people for dropping a gum wrapper on the ground - it was the cleanest place that I visited in Asia.
The U.S. has been very slow to adopt testing perhaps because our government did not want to know or reveal the pending crisis. Why has Vietnam provided more testing than in the U.S., according to a Harvard researcher? I ran into this problem by managers being against testing for pollution while working as an environmental scientist for my entire career. Many people in power only want to hear good news!
The Atlantic on March 13th described the reasons for the U.S. lagging in testing compared to the rest of the world and how President Trump’s comments and misinformation influenced being prepared and taking quick and decisive action.
We are all interconnected on this planet as Covid-19 reveals. We need global laws for our health and environment. Support the United Nations and organizations, including the World Health Organization and UN Environmental Programme, for common international policies so that no one country can create more pollution and reap economic benefits. Say no to deregulation of environmental health and safety standards and let’s fight for our lives!