The COVID-19 pandemic has brought out some ugly truths about modern-day ageism. A combination of the virus’s properties, an overwhelmed health care system and systematic neglect have taken a brutal toll on the elderly.
Unfortunately, it could get worse — if countries effectively automate ageism by allowing what has happened so far to dictate future decisions about care.
This crisis has highlighted a shocking lack of concern about older people. As one journalist at the British newspaper Daily Telegraph opined: "COVID-19 might even prove mildly beneficial in the long term by disproportionately culling elderly dependents." In the United States, nursing homes are particularly vulnerable because the people who work there are so poorly paid that they must hold down multiple jobs, increasing the risk that they will spread the virus. The death count at such facilities is at least 7,000, but more are certainly coming from states such as Florida that have been slow to respond and report.