The single day death toll in the country, as a result of the virus, has reached a record 1,800, bringing the grand total to over 13,000. The virus is decimating the country, causing terrible suffering. The families of those who are dying in hospitals are not allowed to visit them, as the fear is that such visits could lead to more spreading of the virus. As a result of this legitimate concern, such patients are forced to die without being surrounded by family. Further, the family is then forced to arrange a funeral with very few mourners, due to the rules concerning social distancing.
In the midst of this devastation, the journalists are reporting a ”glimmer of hope”, a ”light at the end of the tunnel.” They report that the ”curve is flattening”, that we are ”reaching the apex”, that the anticipated death toll ”may be less than the anticipated 150,000”. Perhaps they think the families of the victims of the virus may take some comfort in this!
As soon as someone dies, it is up to the coroner or Medical Examiner to determine the cause of death. The one and only way to determine if the deceased had the virus, is to administer the test for the virus, which can be done, after death. All too often, this is not being done. The test kits are not available!
The president of the Wyoming Coroners Association stated that testing procedures for the dead are limited, and doubts that ”we will ever know the true impact on fatalities from covid, both for the living and the dead.”
The coroner of Arkansas Clark County was somewhat less polite, when he stated, ”Bodies aren’t tested for covid19. Period.”
The coroner in Douglas County, Colorado, has been begging for test kits. As she put it, ”If you die in my county, I will not know if you died of covid19.”
The coroner in Chester County, Pennsylvania, was a bit more diplomatic when she stated ”Testing has been so restricted and test kits so unavailable, I do not think we really know the scope of the infection or virus related deaths here.”
Coroners all across the country are expressing a similar frustration.
The simple fact is that no one knows precisely how many people are dying as a result of becoming infected with the virus. For that matter, no one even knows how many people are becoming infected with the virus! The hospitals are filled to capacity and beyond, with patients being placed in the hallways. Many people who are sick are being turned away from the hospital, if only because they appear to not be in a life threatening state. There is no time or place for such people. Such patients frequently die at home.
This helps to explain the ”flattening of the curve”, the ”apex of the virus”, the reason fewer people are dying than was anticipated. The infection and death of a great many people is not being reported!
This frustration is shared by the medical workers, the first responders and the delivery service workers. The medical system is at the point of collapse. In one case, two nurses were expected to care for twenty six patients, ten of whom were on ventilators. It is absolutely not reasonable to expect two nurses to provide quality care for patients, under those circumstances. Such examples are by no means isolated incidents. They are common place.
Recently in Detroit, the night shift emergency nursing staff refused to work and demanded more nurses be brought into their overrun emergency room. The hospital administrators in turn told those nurses to either go to work, or go home. A few of them did go home, and the day shift nurses were ordered to continue working, for a twenty four hour shift!
The head of the Michigan Nurses Association spoke quite clearly when she said ”A tipping point is reached where the best thing any RN can do for their patients, their families and their coworkers is to speak out rather than remain silent…it is only a matter of time before more actions like this occur. It is absolutely essential that hospitals start working with nurses and stop silencing our voices.”
In this she is absolutely right, in so far as ”speaking out” is the ”best thing any RN can do”. On the other hand, there is no way the hospital administrators are about to listen to the nurses, nor are they about to ”stop silencing” their voices. The hospital staff is in the service of the class of people who run the country, the capitalists, the billionaires, the Sacred Six Hundred, the bourgeoisie. These people are imperialists, and as Lenin put it, ”Imperialism is reaction, right down the line”. As that is the case, we can expect nothing progressive from these people.
Some of the delivery workers, those who supply the hospitals with medical supplies and are classified as essential services, are already on strike. Any day now, the hospital staff will join them, as they reach the ”tipping point”, the point where people cannot take any more, where they say ”enough is enough”. They are risking their health and even their lives, without proper protective clothing to wear, a shortage of medical equipment, over worked so that they simply cannot perform a proper job, and disrespected by the hospital administrators. There are limits.
This anticipated strike action, on the part of the medical workers, could well be the beginning of a full scale revolution. It is not just the medical system that is at the stage of crisis, set to collapse. The whole system of capitalism is in crisis, although it is doubtful that the capitalists are aware of this. Even if they are aware, they are not about to acknowledge this. As that is the case, perhaps we should draw it to their attention. It is the least we can do. We owe them so much, and it is high time we got even!
The virus has spread around the world, and this is just the start of the Second Great Depression. Even after the virus has run its course, or at least the first wave of the virus, the depression will remain.
It is to be hoped that the current situation will serve as a ”call to arms”, that conscious people, those who are aware of the revolutionary theories of Marx and Lenin, will come together and form a revolutionary Communist Party, Dictatorship Of the Proletariat. It is also hoped that all Americans will put aside their differences and join the two mainstream political parties. As well, the leaders of the Women’s March and the Student Protest Movement should once again stage massive protests, this time in support of our heroic medical professionals and against the system of capitalism. They have done it before and they can do it again.
As for the groups who are determined to force through paltry reforms, feel free to face the fact that such reforms are not about to take place. It is time for people of all backgrounds to come together, regardless of race, religion, creed, belief or class heritage. Bear in mind that Marx and Lenin were middle class intellectuals. It is such people who are obligated to bring the class awareness to the working class, the proletariat. Intellectuals are not to be scorned!
On the contrary, it is up to workers, or at least the most advanced members of the working class, to raise their level of awareness to that of the level of intellectuals! Feel free to earn the mantle of working class intellectual! The revolutionary writings of Marx and Lenin are readily available, as is the internet. Make use of these tools, as it is in your best interest.
I most passionately hope that Americans will once again become active, as they have in the past. After all, they have a revolutionary history, of which they can be most proud. March with banners, this time proclaiming class content, calling for scientific socialism, an end to capitalism, the defeat of the billionaires, the Sacred Six Hundred, the bourgeoisie. The beginning of the Dictatorship Of the Proletariat.
I will close this article with suggestions for my usual slogans, as it gives people a place to start:
Workers of the World, Unite!
Scientific Socialism!
Dictatorship Of the Proletariat!
Gerald McIsaac Science Project 