Nation Seeks New President Amid Pandemic Failures
COVID-19 didn’t have to be this bad. We’re all tired of it. We’re weary of staying home. We’re missing friends and family. Children and teachers are struggling through Zoom school or risking spread with in-person education. And millions of people have lost their jobs! Relief checks have gone away, and many are without food and shelter. The icing on the pandemic cake: more than seven million people have been infected by COVID-19 and more than 200,000 people have died in the U.S. For a point of reference, that’s like wiping out a city the size of Montgomery, Alabama, Little Rock, Arkansas, or Salt Lake City, Utah.
The Coronavirus is not a hoax, and the scale of the virus is not a hoax. The virus came to our shores, infiltrating and debilitating areas with larger populations, and now it’s everywhere to varying degrees. States and municipalities that have done a good job mandating stay-at-home rules, limiting the size of gatherings, acquiring adequate testing, and standardizing mask wearing have reduced outbreaks and managed to keep the spread low. But lack of nation-wide consistency in policy, supplies, communication, and enforcement have led to a hodgepodge of implementations that enable the virus to spread. It also leaves people unsure and afraid.
Continually Learning About COVID-19
One thing that is clear is that the virus is a learning experience for us all. Initially, there was a big emphasis on the virus spreading through touch, focusing on constant hand washing and wiping down surfaces. Then scientists clarified that the virus is spread mainly through air. That means that talking, singing, sneezing, and coughing send the virus airborne. If you’re in an area with enough viral load (an ideal petri dish would be an enclosed space with poor ventilation and lots of people for more than 15 minutes), then the risk of getting the virus is high. It’s all dependent on the number of COVID-19 cases in your area. Risk goes down for everyone as cases decrease (but petri dish events can surge cases in short order).
We know that the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions (my mother falls into both of these categories) are highly susceptible to this virus. But the virus does not discriminate on age, affecting younger and middle aged folks as well, maybe just not as many or as severely. It’s clear that those who have less means to protect themselves from the virus — like those who are unable to isolate, lack clean water, lack healthcare, and so on — have a higher chance of being infected.
Our medical experts also are learning about how insidious the virus can be for those who have been infected. Lingering problems may include fatigue, shortness of breath, achy joints, foggy thinking, a persistent loss of smell and taste, and damage to the heart, lungs, kidneys, and brain. As time goes on, we’ll understand more of the long-term health implications for survivors. For me, I would rather not catch this virus as part of the ‘herd.’ I’ll try to stay safe and wait for the vaccine.
While we don’t have all the answers, and the answers may change from time to time, there is a pretty definite truism: masks make a difference.
Masks Can Defeat the Virus
Mask use is not just about protecting yourself. It’s about protecting others. Masks operate in two ways: they stop you from spreading your droplets and help you from breathing in what others spray. Studies show that the more people who wear masks, the greater reduction in disease transmission. Each COVID-19 contagious person infects 2.5 people on average when no one is wearing a mask. Wearing masks can drop the average to less than one person infected. For example, if 60% of people wore masks then we’d have a 60% drop in transmission. This could be enough to beat this disease. This isn’t a political statement. It’s just math.
Even if you feel that wearing a mask should be a choice and not a government mandate, it makes sense to wear one so that we can reduce the risk for every human, beat back the virus, and get back to normal. Hopefully, a vaccine will be available in a few months, but it will take time to distribute broadly to help us reach immunity as a society. And even a vaccine is not guaranteed to wipe out the virus. To be approved by the Food and Drug Administration, a COVID-19 vaccine only has to demonstrate effectiveness in 50% of vaccinated people.
The bottom line is that wearing masks will continue to be critical for a while longer to minimize spread and ensure safety, particularly for our most vulnerable citizens (like my mom). In a recent interview with The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah, Dr. Anthony Fauci provides some great, non partisan tips for mask wearing (go to 11:05 of the video for a rapid fire Q&A).
A National Coronavirus Plan (from Joe Biden)
Joe Biden understands that we, as a nation, need to follow safe practices guided by the science, and that we need to operationalize testing (and make it free for all). Without safe, effective testing and consistent reporting, we won’t know the number of cases in our areas, and we can’t judge the risk. In his COVID-19 plan, he talks about full deployment and operation of supplies, personnel, and facilities to monitor, manage, and mitigate this virus nationally.
Biden’s COVID-19 plan also will stabilize our economy and make sure it works for everyone — through the pandemic and beyond. Our current administration may hold a mirror up to the stock market as the proof that the economy is sound during the pandemic. But how can that be when more than 13 million people are receiving unemployment in the U.S. right now, with many more out of work with no protections? What’s more, only half of Americans actually own stock and have access to 401K plans. For too many Americans, the economy is not sound.
Biden understands that workers, families, and small businesses that are hit hard by this crisis need a buffer. His plan will “shore up economic demand to ensure we can protect jobs, keep credit flowing to our job creators, and have the economic firepower we need to weather this storm and get our people and economy back to full strength as soon as possible.” These measures include both direct federal support and a renewable fund to state and local governments. Take a few minutes to check out Biden’s detailed plan.
A Failure of Leadership Exhausts a Nation
When it came to Donald Trump’s first real challenge as a leader — a pandemic at our door that he knew was very serious in January — he chose to play it down and left it up to each state to manage its own response. To date, he takes no responsibility for where we are as a country, and instead thinks 200,000 deaths deserve an A grade. He does not acknowledge the severity of the virus, telling us that it “affects virtually nobody.” Instead, he holds political rallies that defy state mandates and the guidelines set by his own experts. He could have been a real leader for the whole country, but he remained petty, mercurial and divisive.
One of the most telling examples of his inability to lead is his blatant undermining of leading scientists and doctors combating COVID-19. He created a mask war when we all should have been using science-based evidence to pull in the same direction to eradicate the virus. Like a snake oil salesman, he suggested people inject disinfectants and promoted hydroxychloroquine as a cure. More recently, he “corrected” the head of the CDC who had told the senate that a vaccine won’t be available widely until next summer and removed CDC website content of new findings that the airborne virus can spread at a greater distance.
His continual lying and obfuscation of the facts make it impossible to trust anything he says. He is unable to lead us through this crisis and bring our nation together. As Michelle Obama says:
“Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country. He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us.”
Start a National Revival: Vote in November
Our collective exhaustion has grown over four years. It’s time to revive this nation with our votes. Join me as I vote for Joe Biden, a leader who will be accountable and work for us all. Let’s build back better.
Update November 7: Joe Biden is the president-elect. The country has spoken. We have about 2.5 months before President Biden will be able to get to work eradicating this virus, but he has a plan. Thanks to everyone who voted.
UPDATE: Since this blog was posted, POTUS and the First Lady have now both tested positive for Coronavirus. I don’t wish this disease on anyone and hope for the best outcomes for them. It’s another proof point that we should be taking this virus seriously. Wear a mask.
