The United States Failure to Contain the COVID-19 Pandemic
Three weeks ago, I started a thread about the
Three Things All Government Should do to Confront a Pandemic. Here is how the United States (US) Government is responding to these integral steps to protect the public from the pandemic.
1. Provide Accurate and Truthful Information
There is no evidence that since the start of this pandemic, the US government has presented clear, accurate, and authoritative information about the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. News media are documenting the conflicting messages put out by various government and public health officials. The official health agency of the US government, the CDC, urged limits to public gatherings (
link). After stay-at-home recommendations by public health officials, other government official were urging the public to visit bars and restaurants (
link,
link). And while the disease spreads in Florida and California, American citizens continued to flock to beaches and gather in large crowds (
link,
link). It should come as no surprised that the American public is confused when government officials make statements that “endanger public heath” (
link).
2. Provide Supplies and Protection for Health Care Workers
Health care workers are the frontline defense against this war on COVID-19, not public officials or politicians. To do their jobs safely and to protect their own health and that of their patients health care workers need adequate supplies of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) which includes masks, gowns, gloves, and other supplies. However, manufacturing of these critical supplies have moved overseas and there are not enough supplies in the US to protect health care workers (
link).
Without secure supply chains, the risk to health care workers around the world is real," WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. "Industry and governments must act quickly to boost supply, ease export restrictions and put measures in place to stop speculation and hoarding."
March 5, 2020 (
link).
Hoarding and speculation continue with these critical supplies even as the crisis worsens.
“I’ll contract with a company for 1,000 masks,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday in his daily briefing. “They’ll call back 20 minutes later and say, ‘The price just went up,’ because they had a better offer.
March 22, 2020 (
link).
Not only are PPE in short supply, but hospital facilities are being overwhelmed and there is no surge capacity from COVID-19 cases. Because of failed messaging, the US has been unable to convince people to help “flatten the curve” (
link). In the coming weeks there will be needs all over the US for additional hospital space and specialized equipment, not to mention additional trained personnel. Anonymous nurses posting at
Allnurse.com are already registering their concerns and fears about the COVID-19 pandemic and their individual ability to do their job and survive. The US government has failed to step in and protect health care workers and provide them with the supplies and facilities necessary to save their own and their patient’s lives.
Responding to requests from state governments for assistance in PPE, a US government official responded
“Respirators, ventilators, all of the equipment — try getting it yourselves” March 16, 2020 (
link).
3. Have a Clear Pandemic Plan
There still is no evidence that the US government has an overarching pandemic plan to protect the health and safety of its citizens. The last published plan was in 2007 entitled “National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza: Implementation Plan”(
link). The document notes on page 32 that “
This Plan will be updated on a regular basis to reflect ongoing policy decisions, as well as improvements in domestic preparedness (e.g., increases in the size of our domestic stockpile or vaccine production capacity).”
No further public updates have occurred.
On page 110 it states (
link):
While a pandemic may strain hundreds of communities simultaneously, each community will experience the pandemic as a local event. In the best of circumstances, patients and health care resources are not easily redistributed; in a pandemic, conditions would make the sharing of resources and burdens even more difficult. The Federal Government is committed to expanding national stockpiles of both vaccines and antiviral medications and will provide these medical countermeasures as well as other available resources and personnel in support of communities experiencing pandemic influenza, but communities should anticipate that in the event of multiple simultaneous outbreaks, there may be insufficient medical resources or personnel to augment local capabilities. Additionally, manufacturers and suppliers are likely to report inventory shortages and supply chains may be disrupted by the effects of a pandemic on critical personnel. State, local, and tribal entities should thus anticipate that all sources of external aid may be compromised during a pandemic.
It is not clear that many US government officials have read this plan or are even aware it. Investigative journalists revealed that the current administration was briefed on a potential pandemic in 2017 (
link).
The briefing was intended to hammer home a new, terrifying reality facing the Trump administration, and the incoming president’s responsibility to protect Americans amid a crisis.
But as many as two-thirds of representatives in that room are no longer serving in the administration, likely one reason this administration is struggling to handle the COVID-19 pandemic. The only current plan seems to be a 2 trillion dollar stimulus package (
link) to provide life support to the economy. But there still appears to be no comprehensive effort to provide a life support plan for all US citizens to protect their health and well-being and prevent any unnecessary deaths.
Summary
About 25 days ago, there were only 30 cases reported in the US. The number has been increasing at an alarming rate ever since. Yesterday, the US was third only to Italy and China in the number of reported COVID-19 cases as depicted in the graph below. Within 24 hours the number of cases in the US will probably exceed those in China. It is only a matter of hours before the US becomes the country with the most COVID-19 infections in the world. It should be clear that the US has failed to contain the outbreak during the its early stages and was completely unprepared for this pandemic.
