Let’s accept reality … how many of us follow medical advice to a tee when our health is at risk? We wonder how many North Americans sanitize their hands, or have purchased a just-in-case face mask. Complacency is an easy trap to fall into. With the Westerdam and Diamond Princess incidents in mind we ask, did complacency spread Covid-19 … what are the implications for us?
Did Complacency Spread Covid-19 From Westerdam?
Cambodians are gentle, sympathetic and polite by nature. These are wonderful characteristics to have. However, these may have influenced their government’s decision to admit the Westerdam cruise ship when several other countries refused.
Prime Minister Hun Sen did not wear a face mask when he greeted the disembarking passengers with flowers. His body guards told people wearing them to remove them according to The New York Times. Perhaps this was for security reasons but even so, it was careless. If you are wondering if complacency did spread Covid-19 from Westerdam to Kuala Lumpur, the answer is probably yes.
Complacency Encouraged U.S. Health Officials to Take a Chance
Technology can make humans feel invincible and drop their guard. It caused the Chernobyl disaster and almost one at Three Mile Island because operators trusted their machines, not common sense. Now the United States has almost twice the number of active Covid-19 cases. Did complacency spread Covid-19 from Diamond Princess too? There’s good case it did.
Health professionals trusted their technology believing it was invincible. We can’t blame them; we might have done the same but for the wisdom of hindsight. Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health told USA Today the quarantine system failed. It might not have, if common sense decided let’s wait a few more days, just to be sure.
Related
Cruise Passengers Brought the Virus Home
Coronavirus Has Escaped from Westerdam
Preview Image: Scanning Electron Microscope Image
