Now that the coronavirus pandemic is spreading throughout the United States, the Pentagon has been forced to spring into action. A massive order of military style body bags has been placed. 100,000 body bags have been ordered and anyone who thought that the pandemic wasn’t real is surely changing their point of view now.
Public health officials are warning that the pandemic will get worse before it gets better. Even President Trump has said that we are in for a bumpy ride over the next few weeks. Deaths are expected to soar and we need to be prepared for what is about to take place. It is not a pleasant thing to face but we no longer have a choice.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency issued the request for the body bags. The Pentagon already has a stockpile of 50,000 body bags and they will need to purchase more. The Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support unit is responsible for the management of the body bags.
The current contractor has been contacted by the unit, so that the manufacturing capabilities can be discussed. A formal order has yet to be placed at the moment. The United States is currently grappling with over 200,000 coronavirus cases and the death toll is over the 5,000 mark.
The numbers are exploding and citizens are becoming concerned. On the bright side, the initial projections have been altered a bit. Top scientists had gone on record as saying that nearly 2 million Americans would pass away as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Now, this estimate has been lowered to 100,000 to 200,000 people.
These numbers are still quite high and we wish that the news was a bit less grim. President Trump had originally hoped to return to normalcy by Easter but this is not feasible. The social distancing guidelines have been extended until the end of April but we would not be surprised if they were extended even further.
We are in uncharted territory as a nation and no one knows what lies ahead. The Pentagon is trying their best to remain prepared and they have an unenviable task ahead of them. No one wants to stop and think about the death toll that is about to take place but its something that we have to confront.
The pandemic was referred to as a hoax initially and it seemed like Americans did not want to believe that they were in harm’s way. Everyone is changing their tune now. Social distancing is currently underway and public health officials hope that this will lead to a flattening of the curve.
If the curve is flattened, the death toll decreases. While it would lead to a longer mitigation period, this is a necessary evil. If we do not flatten the curve? The initial wave might be over more quickly but far more people will die. That’s why we all need to be paying close attention to the government’s guidelines.
No one is above the guidelines in these instances. It does not matter how young you are. There are also a wide range of people who carry the virus unknowingly. These asymptomatic people can cause all sorts of problems for those who are more susceptible. We have a responsibility to uphold here and we must all work tirelessly to keep each other safe.
There are some who are questioning the numbers that are being presented and they do not believe that we are going to experience this many casualties. On the other hand, think about how quickly the numbers exploded on this side of the pond. Within a few short weeks, the United States moved to the top of the leader board and this is not a good thing.
We need to remain prepared for whatever is coming our way. The people who want to analyze the numbers in an attempt to downplay the virus are missing the point. If the death toll has already increased to over 5,000 this rapidly and the total number of cases is over 200,000, who knows what comes next? Anyone who is acting like they know what lies ahead is not being entirely honest with themselves.
That’s why the Pentagon is in the process of preparing for a worst case scenario. This country has struggled to remain prepared for every aspect of this pandemic and while body bags are not a pleasant thought, it is a decision that has to be made ahead of time. We cannot wait for the death toll to rise even further before we are ready to take action.
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