>we have far more than enough money as a nation
to for example open more beds in preparation for the second wave (which was obvious to come). Instead hospitals were laying off people in the summer.
to for example open more beds in preparation for the second wave (which was obvious to come). Instead hospitals were laying off people in the summer.
> Instead hospitals were laying off people in the summer.
Yup. One of the dark ironies of this whole mess has been that hospitals have been letting go of staff because they had to suspend (very profitable) elective surgeries to treat (not so profitable) covid patients. Think hip surgeries being postponed and bleeding hospitals dry as a result.
i think the 3-6 months that we had would have been enough to train any MD to care for a covid patient, at least for majority of cases and under supervision of existing high specialist. My understanding is that non-covid personnel had their workload significantly decreased, so they could have been trained for covid for the second wave.