Assessing the Coronavirus Response

The coronavirus pandemic is far from over, but as states look to begin reopening now is a good time to look at how we’ve responded thus far. I will be assessing the coronavirus response by the health care community, the political establishment, and even by myself.

My Response

First things first. My own opinions and writings on the matter turned out to be wrong. I falsely believed that the virus would not take hold in the US. I also believed it would be no deadlier than the flu. This also proved to be catastrophically wrong.

Unfortunately, I fell victim to complacency. Previous outbreaks, such as SARS, MERS, bird flu, and West Nile Virus did not disrupt our way of life. I assumed the new coronavirus would follow the same pattern. SARS was in fact a type of coronavirus itself. I made assumptions without scientific evidence, and this proved foolish.

The Health Care Response

While my initial reactions proved faulty, enough can not be said about how amazing our health care workers have handled this crisis. They have put their lives on the line like never before to treat the thousands of people who were hospitalized by this virus. They have witnessed death on a scale rarely seen in this country in such a short time.

We have to take the well being of our health care workers into account when we make decisions on when to reopen. If we open too early and the virus spreads quickly again, we are putting our health care workers in a dangerous spot. And while they did sign up for this line of work, we should not make decisions that make their job harder and more deadly.

Alabama’s Response

The political response to the pandemic has been a mixed bag. Some governors have done a great job, while others have stumbled. Unfortunately, Alabama lawmakers lagged in their response to the virus. We were one of the last states to issue a shelter in place order.

Mobile County has been a mixed bag as well. The health department acted early and shut down sit down dining at restaurants. City leaders were not as quick to act, though they have come around and are now diligently enforcing safety measures.

The Federal Response

The federal response to the pandemic has left a lot to be desired. The problems start right at the top with the president. It has come to light that he was warned early and often that the coronavirus was going to be a problem. While he can be forgiven for not agreeing with that assessment, he should be held to account for calling it a hoax. That was extremely irresponsible.

The president has also made a number of false promises and statements with regard to testing. In March he stated that anyone that wanted a test could get one. That is still not true today.

I know this is not something people in our area want to hear. I know the president is extremely popular around here. However, we have to be able to criticize our leaders when they do not get the results we need. The outbreak is not the president’s fault, but he could have done a better job of fighting it.

Congress has been a mess as well. Partisan bickering has stymied progress. They did pass the largest rescue package our nation has ever seen. As usual, it was packed with plenty of unnecessary giveaways. It was not perfect, but much of the package was necessary.

Congress is now negotiating more money for small businesses. The initial $350 billion ran out in roughly two weeks. It now appears large businesses were dipping into funds designed to go to small businesses. Oversight has been a joke.

In short, the response to this crisis could have and should have been better. Those who attempt to downplay the event because they want the country to reopen immediately are making a mistake. The country will reopen eventually. However, caution is the better part of valor.