One of the most terrifying parts of the current coronavirus pandemic (besides its scary physical damage to the body and the rising number of global cases) is the fact that testing for the virus is so difficult to come by, especially right here in the United States. Healthcare professionals around the country are begging people who suspect that they might have contracted COVID-19 to stay home unless they’re showing the most extreme of symptoms because of a shortage of testing kits. Yet, somehow, numerous celebrities have been able to run out to their local doctor’s office and get tested for the coronavirus. Cardi B, known for keeping it 100, peeps game, and she’s not happy about what she’s seeing.
The rapper held a coronavirus conference in the confines of her home, appearing on Instagram with a mask to address her 61 million followers. In the four minute video, Cardi pointed out the hypocrisy of some of Hollywood’s asymptomatic elite getting tested for the virus while people across the U.S. — many of whom may in fact be experiencing things like shortness of breath, high grade fever, pneumonia, and more — have been instructed to self-quarantine instead of going to a hospital to get tested.
“Let me tell you something,” Cardi said. “The general public…they’re not getting treated like celebrities. They’re not getting their fucking coronavirus results the next day.”
“They’re telling people to go home and self-quarantine,” she continued. “Where do they think they’re sending people home to? Not everyone has the luxury of going to their fucking bedroom and to go in a big ass house and just stay away from people. A lot of people live in small ass apartments with multiple people.”
“A lot of celebrities, y’all have the luxury to pay $30-$40,000 or whatever the fuck it costs to get tested and get treated,” Cardi pointed out. “A lot of these people don’t fucking have that money.”
She also stressed that the pandemic was very real, and because of its severity, extreme policies must be put in place to tackle COVID-19 effectively. If you ask Cardi B, the American government should provide all coronavirus-related healthcare to the public free of charge. TIME reported that the total cost of treatment for the virus could total almost $35,000 for patients without health insurance and around $9,000 for insured patients, but as Cardi so accurately explained, “A lot of people can’t even fucking afford healthcare!”
“I feel like the government should just charge that shit to the game and not charge people for it because at the end of the day, this shit could have been prevented when they found out about this shit a couple of months ago,” she said emphatically, pointing her long nails at the camera. “This is y’all fault that it got in this motherfucking country.”
Expletives and all, Cardi makes good points. The American government was fully aware of the threat of COVID-19 months ago and has observed the disease as it was spreading in places like China, South Korea, and Italy. Still, it took widespread contamination within U.S. borders for the higher ups to put measures like shelter-in-place orders and curfews in place.
Public health officials are predicting that the coronavirus outbreak will continue well into the rest of the spring and potentially even spill into our summer months. That means that the government has to act quickly and efficiently to contain the respiratory virus, with effectively policies that will protect the public’s physical and financial well-being.
Maybe Cardi should run for Congress after all…we might actually get things done.
COVID-19 has been declared a global pandemic. Go to the CDC website for the latest information on symptoms, prevention, and other resources.
