America, What Are You Doing?

When traveling through Rwanda and Ethiopia on my way home I had my temperature taken 5 separate times. once, to enter the Rwandan airport, again to get on the plane in Rwanda, again through customs in Ethiopia, and 3 more times to get through security in Ethiopia and onto my plane. I saw someone not make it through customs in Ethiopia because her temperature was 99 degrees, and I worried about what would happen if I arrived in Washington DC and suddenly had a fever when going through customs (I have anxiety). I even took ibuprofen 2 hours before landing in the United States, just encase because frankly the thought of not making it home and being taken to a hospital without my family was simply terrifying. And yet… nothing happened.

I arrived in the US assuming I would be going though intense health checks before going through customs, and NOTHING. I heard rumors about people waiting hours in airports to go through these health checks, and yet they simply don’t exist! I filled out a quick health form that only asked if I had been in China, Europe or Iran recently. The customs officer didn’t even look at it and only took it after I asked her if she needed it. I’m not blaming the customs officers in anyway, they are working hard through a difficult time, but I am blaming the US government.

I entered the US assuming everything would be on lock down. That no one would be leaving their houses, and that people were really looking to make sure sick people are being isolated and none of this is happening. People in Colorado gathered in the park on Sunday because “it was just so nice outside.” Stores and restaurants are still open and people are actually going shopping at this time! I truly cannot believe how calm and unresponsive people are being to this pandemic.

Yesterday the Colorado government released a Stay At Home order, and yet nothing was done to enforce it, no body changed their behavior to follow it, and nothing was done to help the people who cannot afford this.

The day after I left Rwanda, the entire country was put on home quarantine. Taxis and motorcycles cannot take passengers, all businesses and schools are unless absolutely necessary and soldiers will stop you if you are outside without a reason. The important part is people are listening to this! And these are people who can’t use and ATM, but have to travel 2 hours by foot to get money from their bank, and people who don’t have enough money to buy more than a few days or food at a time, and people who don’t have refrigeration or stoves, and people who have to fetch water from a well in the valley every morning. The government is searching for every passenger on flights with reported cases and taking them to hotels for isolation and testing. Rwanda only had 19 confirmed cases before they closed the entire country. The United States has over 42,000 confirmed cases and yet people are still arguing businesses should be open.

I ask you, America, what are you doing to prevent the spread? What are you doing to help the people who can’t stay home from work? What are you doing to find people who could have been in contact with a confirmed case? What are you doing to protect our borders in this situation? Because I simply don’t see it.

We are one of the most powerful countries in the world and it has become clear that our government has not prepared for a situation in which they need to help and protect us, instead they are more worried about bailing out airlines who could not have business for 1 year, continue paying all their employees and still survive.