Reflections on the US Pandemic Response

Image courtesy of Stockvault.

Whether I like it or not, my country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic is highly scrutinized worldwide. The US has the most Coronavirus cases. Our press also isn’t restricted when they report about it like in some other countries. My country publishes its mistakes for the whole world to see.

Those mistakes have cost about 80,000 lives in my country, as of this writing. It’s hard to tell whether this includes deaths directly because of the illness but also indirect deaths (like reduced access to medical care).

The lack of information is a big problem.
Despite my country being open about its mistakes, there’s still too little information released to the public. We don’t know how long the illness was around in our country before officials decided to do anything. The infection rate in New York suggests that it was around for a while, undetected by local and national authorities.

As far as national authorities are concerned, it’s been hard to tell what officials knew what at a given time. There’s been recent evidence to suggest that the Trump administration buried a CDC report on the reopening of the economy. According to that report, many places in the US that are reopening are not doing so safely.

Things are starting to reopen, whether it’s wise or not.
Here is a map of what states are doing what in the US. Most states are trying to engage in partial reopenings, where businesses operate with reduced occupancy and foot traffic. There are places in Europe doing this as well.

Which practices are sensible? It’s hard to tell. Each state has its own plan regarding what’s safe. Many rely on medical advice, or claim to rely on medical advice, but many members of the public aren’t trusting that decision. Where I live, things are reopening, but I see more masks and social distancing as time goes on. This self-isolation might do more to curb the spread of the disease. Politicians will take credit if things go well and shift blame if things go poorly.

The lack of a national response has been frustrating.
Since hearing about the buried CDC report, I have to wonder if there’s been anything else that has been buried. During this whole epidemic, the CDC has been notably quiet and ineffective. It’s their job to shine during such a crisis. And it’s not like they’re wholly ignorant of medicine and how diseases work.

The problem is I don’t know if that agency has been intentionally silenced or has been gutted to the point that it’s useless. Neither alternative is attractive. Fortunately it all points to a similar root cause.

Image from ifunny.com

The Trump administration has been absolute garbage regarding this.
I know there are people who insist Trump can do no wrong. The administration initially claimed absolute authority over a disease response. At the same time, it was letting states fend for themselves. That latter point has resulted in the haphazard response of states scrambling to figure out how to manage an epidemic. They weren’t prepared for it – in part because Federal authorities have claimed they had it covered.

Worse, the administration has disclaimed any responsibility for its mismanagement. Successes (only 100k deaths expected!) have presidential authors while failures are an orphan belonging to someone else. It’s hard to take advice from an administration that isn’t willing to be honest about anything. No wonder that some people don’t trust it and have found solace in conspiracy theories.

What needs to happen next?
After the pandemic subsides – which could take longer because of the bad decisions by some states – we need to get access to many internal documents regarding federal management of the disease. There was one email chain that the NY Times got hold of that showed some authorities were already suspecting infection in the US as early as February. These people were flat out ignored by politicians.

I also think that the lion’s share of the blame needs to stick to federal authorities. States are going to mess up when federal guidance is hidden from them. The buck has to stop somewhere. In this case, that’s the Oval Office.