It's very easy to overlook the disabled in the face of a global pandemic- between government shutdowns, mass panic, and an increasing pile of bodies, the needs of disabled people seem to take a backseat, 15 percent of the world population or not. Unfortunately, COVID-19 doesn't discriminate, and the disabled are increasingly at risk. For some, this risk is physical; people with respiratory issues may be more likely to develop serious illness or die from COVID-19. For others, however, the risk comes in another form: the unavailability of things like information, healthcare, and social services.
Education is crucial when it comes to preventing the spread of coronavirus, and those who are blind or hard of hearing may be deprived of lifesaving information. Human Rights Watch interviewed Karen McCall, a legally blind woman in Ontario, Canada, after she potentially came into contact with an infected person. She stated that "it was difficult for her to access information from Ontario's Ministry of Health, as an online slideshow about staying healthy during the COVID-19 outbreak was not compatible with the screen reading or magnification technology she relies on." This doesn't just affect Karen- it affects the people around her as well, because of how rapidly the disease spreads.
Additionally, disabled people often rely on social services to assist them with daily needs, such as for meals and hygiene. Because of the quarantine, they may lose access to these vital services and be neglected by the system.
There are many other factors- financial, social, and educational- that put the disabled at increased risk during this pandemic. But one thing is clear: right now, many people with mental and physical disabilities feel like their lives are valued less than those of their abled peers. It's up to us- our community, our government- to support them in their time of need.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/03/26/protect-rights-people-disabilities-during-covid-19
https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/03/1059762
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I think this is a super interesting dynamic and something that I had not considered. I think there definitely needs to be a better system in place for people who are deaf or blind to get the information they vitally need. I wonder if their health risks are also be increased because they might have to visit health care centers more often. I would think this would increase ones chances of coming into contact with the virus.
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting to me because I never thought of that how are deaf and blind people get the word. Now that I have thought of it they are still getting the word because deaf people are able to read these kinds of stuff online and blind people are able to listen on the news this type of information. So basically they are still getting the word and they still know what is going on. I believe that people that are disabled and had these social services they should still be able to have them instead of them going to them the people that used to help them should still bring their food and other things they might need. Because this is unfair to them and they are having a disadvantage. Are community needs to start thinking more on what they can do to still help the disabled people they can think of the best method. I think they should drop food of at there places and knock so they know and the person can just pick it up with out having interactions with anyone.
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