Did COVID Really Have To Be This Bad?
Over 267,000 Americans have died of COVID-19, could they have been saved?
As of writing, over 267,000 Americans have died of the coronavirus and millions more have been sickened. Every death and illness resulting from this terrible disease is a tragedy.
The staggering death toll has led many to say that it did not have to be this bad. Their argument is that the high death toll is the result of the failings of the government and specifically Donald Trump. But I’m not so sure that’s the case.
Let’s start with the reality that this virus was likely in the United States as early as mid-December which is a month before the first case was officially discovered in the country. This means that the response to the virus was already behind the 8-ball. It is very likely that community spread of the virus was already occurring before public health authorities could get a grip on the situation.
My biggest problem with the “it didn’t have to be this bad” crowd is that I don’t have any proposed solutions. What would have they have done? They should tell us these things so we can have an actual debate.
The only countries in the world that have stamped out the virus fall into two categories: islands and police states. Becoming an island is a geographic impossibility for most of the country and hopefully becoming a police state will be seen as an unacceptable cost by most Americans.
What I’m trying to get at is there we’re not hearing a whole lot about proposed solutions. The only way to stamp out the virus without a vaccine is to lockdown with a very strict and narrow definition of “essential businesses” and to otherwise require people to stay in their homes. Any type of reopening will allow the virus to spread.
If a new, stricter lockdown is what you want, make that argument. Let’s have the discussion where we debate not just the cost to public health but also the economic and psychological costs as well.
If you don’t want to argue for a new, stricter lockdown you need to do better than Joe Biden. Biden, who campaigned on a better response to the virus, revealed his big plan to combat the virus. Biden’s grand plan is to basically go “c’mon man, wear a mask” for his first 100 days. It’s not even a nationwide mask mandate, because Biden wouldn’t have the power to impose one. Biden’s “plan” is even more of a joke when you factor in that 92% of Americans wear a mask including 74% who say they always do according to an October survey.
Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus has been far from perfect. The messaging has been inconsistent, the first batch of coronavirus briefings degenerated into sparring matches with the media, and the president’s insistence that we’re “turning the corner” on the virus have dangerously provided false hopes, among other things. But the critics need to lead and say what exactly they will do and not just say “listen to the scientists” or any other talking points.