“Trickle Down” health is why we’re still in a pandemic
Tags: Prevention, Workers Rights, Public Health, Covid 19, Economics

We’ve seen amazing strides in public health innovation this year: at least $2 Billion spent on vaccine R&D, companies implementing strong public hygiene and safety standards through masks and social distancing (and $800+ Billion went to businesses to weather the storm). We’ve shown that business and public health can work together, to a bare minimum.

But aside from one $1200 check a few months ago, nothing is coming directly to the people. Instead, these Billions in the CARES Act and similar Pandemic related legislation has handed over relief money to big industries as an attempt to spare jobs, hoping that this relief money will find it’s way down to workers and individuals. Moreover, as cases and deaths continue to rise, we haven’t given the most vulnerable the opportunity to avoid spread. During “normal” times, I like to say that economic health is public health. Basically, if we solve for economic disparities in America, we can improve health outcomes.

I might have surprising company. Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley is in the minority of GOP legislators who is in agreement with New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders to support additional direct payment stimulus. Stopgap measures from previous pandemic legislation such as unemployment benefits, student loan forbearance and eviction moratoriums are all set to expire by the end of the year. This has resulted in individuals and families are struggling to make tough decisions.

But it shouldn’t be this hard. We know that the best form of prevention for this virus and disease transmission is staying home. We’ve reopened schools in major cities, so that their parents can go back to work (and are completely ignoring the safety of teachers in the process). We’ve let restaurants continue to serve meals in-person and indoors where people can’t wear masks. These decisions don’t prioritize the public’s health: they prioritize business’ interests that need workers in stores, and customers to patronize those stores in order to see continued growth.

Estimates range on just how many people are essential workers — most centering around 17% of the country. However, essential work is just a smaller subset of people who need to work to stay afloat. There are likely many more who had to keep working. These people more more likely to be Black, have a household income less than $40,000 and do not have college educations. With Black Americans 3x as likely to contract COVID-19 than Whites, the case for structural racism and the determinants of health has never been so clear. As cases and deaths surge, we need to remember that we haven’t given the majority of these people the means to stay home away from the virus. It is not overly dramatic to say that many people are facing the more existential choice to face eviction and hunger or contracting the disease and dying.

We should be thrilled that there’s a vaccine around the corner. But so far, the prioritization of this herd immunity over of masks, social distancing and preventing the spread of the disease is part of a package of response work that squarely helped big businesses thrive and the ultra-wealthy, while the working class are fighting to survive. Out of nowhere, they created trillions in money for those businesses at the top while millions more Americans fell into poverty. Much like the Reaganomics of decades past, this is a failure of both government and business.

If companies want workers to stock shelves, customers who can afford to shop at their stores, and if legislators want an actual thriving economy to take credit for sometime soon, they must take care of their people. Pass another round of stimulus funding that goes directly to individuals and families and keep it going until this pandemic is over. Give people the option and means to stay home and prevent the spread. If we want a chance to return to a semblance of those normal times, I think we’ll find that strong public health is strong economic health, too.