Handling of Epidemics; Preparation for Epidemics

Section 1.
If a dangerous epidemic appears in some country, which has the risk of spreading to other countries (not naturally restricted to certain climates), the country must stop all physical connections with other countries to stop the virus. The country must apply quarantine restrictions and guidelines for its residents, at least until the contagion can be accurately tracked and assessed. In return, other countries must help this country with medical supplies, medical personnel, food provisions, and other containment needs.

Section 2.
An epidemic of a new disease does not just have a human life toll, but it also has an enormous economic toll on an entire society.  Furthermore, this economic toll can have cascading consequences that have an even greater toll on human life than the epidemic itself (by reducing access to health-care opportunities, putting people in poverty, and even destabilizing society). Therefore, in order to prevent the worst case scenarios, our societies must be more aptly prepared for the most likely epidemics, especially those that rely on the respiratory tract to spread widely and quickly.
     While the private sector of an economy can provide great flexibility, efficiency, and innovation in any industry, a private (for-profit) health-care industry is not capable of accomodating the health-care needs of a sudden influx of patients during an epidemic. The reason for this is that being prepared for a sudden and unpredictable influx of patients requires a vast amount of stockpiled resources (physical and human capital), which is against the financial interests of a for-profit health-care provider. For this reason, we require that the health-care sector be augmented through public means, so that we can be prepared for the most likely pandemics.  The costs of such preparation will be significantly lower to the public than the costs of a devastating pandemic, as the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated.