Dr. Tom Frieden, the former director of the CDC wrote in the New York Times that the organization needs to start with good detective work, and it requires a White House willing to listen.
On Jan. 26, our country’s top public health expert on viral respiratory diseases, Dr. Nancy Messonnier of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in discussing the coronavirus then ravaging China, “We need to be preparing as if this is a pandemic.” A month later, she warned, “The disruption to everyday life might be severe.” Imagine how different the world would be today if the administration had heeded these words.
Like the rest of the country, I look at the daily toll of Covid-19 deaths with horror. The White House missed our first chance to limit the impact of Covid-19 in February by not expanding production of protective equipment, ventilators and testing. It also failed to communicate effectively, which would likely have accustomed and motivated Americans to practice physical distancing.
But it’s not too late to do better. A coherent national response decides on policy and then pushes all of government to follow that policy. This is a public health emergency, and public health officials can show us the way forward.