One of the biggest failures of the world in stopping the COVID-19 outbreak was our inability to gauge the actual impact of this pandemic. Probably, we all have been overconfident from the day we began to hear the news of the disease outbreak in China. The laxity of responsible organizations worldwide in recognizing the impact and prioritizing the responses over the routine global politics made a conducive environment for this outbreak.
The important question is, what should decide our responses from now on? Should that be based on economic ambitions or the very survival of the human race on this planet?
As the most feasible solution as of now is to prevent the disease from spreading, children should be kept away from getting exposed to potentially vulnerable surroundings. Why do we have the hesitation in giving a safe environment for the children? What will they lose if the schools are closed for a few weeks and a few classes are lost?
The government and authorities should direct the schools to take the right decision to protect children. This is a time where safety and health survival of our next generation should be prioritized over any short-term economic goals.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.