Then there are those who claim to have pinpointed the specific sin that's the real culprit; the one for which we're all being punished by this pandemic. The one wrong-doing that, if rectified, will miraculously eradicate this whole mess.
And let's not forget the dominant camp, the preachers of "this-is-a-more-meaningful-lifestyle". The ones who insist we needed quarantining to teach us what's truly valuable in this world.
Well, I'm sorry. This simply isn't a blessing in disguise. And those takes on Covid-19 incense me. Too many people are already or will soon suffer in myriad ways from this disaster to paint it as rosy. And too many of us have already suffered enough in pre-Covid times to know full well what matters in life.
We didn't need a pandemic to teach us that.
Now onto institutionalization of people with disabilities. If anybody still needed convincing of its evils, Covid-19 has obliged us with another argument against that route.
It has become abundantly clear that residents of large closed facilities are locked into a veritable virus incubator. Children and adults - like our Haya - are always vulnerable to illness and complications but now they are at the mercy of a new threat. They are also undoubtedly at high risk for complications from the virus.
At first, predictably, the unscrupulous Aleh PR team saw fit to use the pandemic to self promote with this post: When Kids Can’t Go On an Outing, Bring the Outing to Them (March 17, 2000).
It has become abundantly clear that residents of large closed facilities are locked into a veritable virus incubator. Children and adults - like our Haya - are always vulnerable to illness and complications but now they are at the mercy of a new threat. They are also undoubtedly at high risk for complications from the virus.
At first, predictably, the unscrupulous Aleh PR team saw fit to use the pandemic to self promote with this post: When Kids Can’t Go On an Outing, Bring the Outing to Them (March 17, 2000).
Oddly, they themselves conceded that
"Residents of ALEH Moriah are among the most susceptible population and require careful protection against any possible exposure to the corona virus."And sure enough, soon afterwards that very branch of Aleh - there are four scattered throughout Israel - was infected. After one of its employees contracted the illness last Friday (March 21), 21 residents and 20 staff members were quarantinded and tested.
On Sunday March 22, it was disclosed that six residents tested positive. Currently, the 41 residents and employees are quarantined in one of the branch's buildings. The other residents are deemed safe. And remain untested!
Yesterday we learned ["הקורונה הכתה שוב במעון עלה", Gedera Hayom] that in Aleh's branch known as Aleh Negev Nahalat Eran, another employee contracted Covid-19. Consequently 42 residents and tens of staff members have been quarantined. It is not known how many residents of that branch, if any, have the virus.
Yesterday we learned ["הקורונה הכתה שוב במעון עלה", Gedera Hayom] that in Aleh's branch known as Aleh Negev Nahalat Eran, another employee contracted Covid-19. Consequently 42 residents and tens of staff members have been quarantined. It is not known how many residents of that branch, if any, have the virus.
It is crystal-clear that had our government chosen to hand the funds it channels to Aleh instead to the families of this population, many, if not most, of them would be much safer today. They would be hunkered down at home like everyone else. They would be spared contagion from young asymptomatic staff and volunteers.
Harsh as this will sound, if we, G-d forbid, run short of respirators for those critically ill with the virus and triage is unavoidable, who will be granted that luxury? A person with zero chance for a healthy, normal life afterwards? A person with "multiple, complex disabilities", as Aleh boasts of its residents?
One U.S. parent of a child with severe disabilities blogged that a friend told her:
"...the Powers That Be in Washington have determined that a person with cognitive disabilities will not get a respirator should he or she or they need one. I said, We know that already. We is us. We know about the rationing of care."Lest you surmise that the Aleh's operators have been chastened by this situation, here's this to rectify that misconception. Once again, they've enlisted their PR hacks to put the catastrophe to good financial use!!
"Though our ALEH residents are being distanced from the public to safeguard their health, it is essential that they never feel alone. Donate Now" ["BREAKING: Coronavirus Threatens Disability Community in the Negev", Aleh website, March 25, 2020; archived here]
Of course, they are always distanced from the public. But not to "safeguard their health".
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