Photo by Ani Kolleshi on Unsplash

Pandemic Preparation for the Poor

Even if masks weren’t selling out, I can’t afford to buy one.

I’m counting on my good health and my hermiting to keep me from catching something. Except my health isn’t really good — a major illness in 2018, chronic stress through 2019, and a recent bout of bacterial pericarditis has me drained. I’m not sick, but I’m not well, either.

Reports are mixed as to whether I have anything to worry about — but current reports are that 40–70% of the world population could be infected by the end of the year.

Of course, not all of them will become ill, and of those who become ill, only a small percentage will die from it, but it’s still a concern. With my already rundown health, what would it do to me?

Not that I can really share those concerns with a medical professional — I don’t have medical insurance. I was cut off from Medicaid for making too much money — though I still don’t even make enough money to pay even my modest bills and still eat food every day, let alone to pay for a substandard insurance policy.

So how does one prepare for a potential pandemic when one is poor?

Can it even be done?

Probably not. If you can’t afford to eat every day, you certainly can’t afford to stock up on food. Can’t…