Silence
When it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic, who to trust? Do we trust the President, with the entire future of his administration riding on making the pandemic “disappear”? Do we trust the scientists around him, beaten to a pulp by Presidential tweets and comments? How about the ex-government scientists, the “formers” from the agencies? They might be speaking for their silenced friends inside. But the message they send is so radically different than the “experts” on staff at HSS, FDA, NIH, or CDC. Who can we trust?
It started with silence. In the beginning, back in January and February, scientists outside of Washington were warning of a pending pandemic. They were calling for national action, but their words were buried. The President assured us that everything was under control, and that the nation was safe. Where was Dr. Fauci, or Dr. Birx, or all of the other Government “experts” ringing the alarm bells?
We now know that they were banging those bells with hammers, but did not step outside of the administrative process. Since those at the top didn’t want or agree with their warnings, the experts remained almost silent. The scientists didn’t want this to happen, they warned the “top” that it would get as bad as we are now living. But they didn’t warn the people. They spoke to the President, and when they were ignored and shouted down, they remained quiet.
Masks
In early March the COVID “toothpaste” was “out of the tube”. It could no longer be ignored, and those same government experts said that masks weren’t necessary for the public. We now know they said that not because it was true, but because the shortage of masks for those who really needed them, the medical staffs soon to be overwhelmed with COVID patients, was extreme. The public couldn’t have masks; there weren’t enough to go around.
But by publicly stating that general mask wearing was unnecessary, the “experts” set themselves up for questions. A month later they said it was NOW important to wear masks, in fact, it was crucial to reduce the spread of COVID. Everyone knew they “changed their minds”. Social media pummeled them with memes and videos of their flip-flopping. And while conserving the mask supply in March was crucial, the outcome of the “flip” in April was that distrust was created that can’t be undone.
You still see the social media posts, intentionally confusing the mask issue. “If you’re mask works, why do I need one? If social distancing works, why wear a mask?” The answer is they all work some, and in combination of all, everyone masked, everyone social distancing; the spread of COVID is diminished. But because we started from “we don’t need masks” from the experts, it’s easier to attack their use.
The “Plan”
The Centers for Disease Control came out with a strict step-by-step plan for states to reopen. Two weeks at step-one, then move to step-two. If statistics support lessened viral spread, maybe move to step-three. But as soon as the CDC guidance came out, the President immediately attacked. He pressured states to open without going through the “steps”. He wanted the economy going again, and he couldn’t wait for control of the virus.
So most Governors, even the ones who were trying to “do the right thing” like Mike DeWine here in Ohio, threw the CDC guidance out. States “re-opened” far too soon, and those in the government pressing for continued closures were silenced. Ask Ohio’s Director of Health, Amy Acton. On social media friends were lost, but more importantly, the short term benefits of a month of “closing down” were lost as well. But the public pretty much missed that fact, and still thinks today that we did “the best we could do”.
And the “experts” in Washington DC quietly let it happen. While they opined that it would have been better to stay closed longer, they allowed the shouted demands of politicians to overwhelm what they knew were the right answers. So America re-opened.
Schools
Everyone agrees that it would be better if public schools and universities were open, with kids going to classes and teachers doing their thing. The American Academy of Pediatrics announced that in June, and those who are vested in regular school attendance have beaten us over the heads with it ever since. And they aren’t wrong – take it from an old school teacher – lots of good things happen in school. But the reality of today is that our schools haven’t had the resources to do much to prevent COVID transmission.
They haven’t redone the ventilation systems, they have done little to create new classroom spaces, and, in the end, schools were crowded before and will only be a little less crowded now. But they also “changed the safety rules” to fit their financial reality. The six-foot “distancing” space that we see marked on the floor everywhere – well it’s three-foot in a classroom, measured from the center of one desk to the next. And yes, everyone will be wearing masks, and teachers will become masters of “Lysol-ing” their classrooms. But that’s about it.
So just like the states opening without regard to the CDC’s guidance, the schools are doing pretty much the same. The outcome will be increased viral spread. We are seeing that now in many of the big universities; it’s preordained.
Tests
And now the CDC is telling us that we don’t need to test everyone, even those who might be exposed. We just need to test those who exhibit symptoms, just like we said in March when there were hardly any tests around. And why is this, after months of saying that we need to test and trace and quarantine? Well there are two reasons I can think of. The first is that the statistics created by tests are slowing production in the economy. The President is on a “clock and a calendar” (thanks Congressman Collins). He’s got to show that the country is getting back to normal, and it has to happen in time for early voting in October.
President Trump has already stated that testing makes things look bad. So if we stop testing, then things will look better – right? It’s already working. As testing slows, with fewer positive outcomes, other government agencies are quick to jump on and say we should “go back to (more) normal”. Weekends and hurricanes are doing wonders for the testing statistics – a lot fewer people are testing positive.
And there’s the other point the CDC folks quietly make – we aren’t able to do the contact tracing and quarantining because we don’t have the resources to handle the numbers. So if we can’t get it done, then there’s not a great reason to test. And why don’t we have the resources? The same folks who want tests to go away failed to provide those resources.
Jaded
It’s really no surprise there’s so much doubt in America about COVID. Even though we demonstrably have the worst numbers in the world, with over six million infected and almost 185,000 dead, many Americans are still questioning what needs to be done. While Dr. Fauci and others have tried: they have been drowned out by politicians who need the economy booming to win re-election. And, we have to wonder if things might have been different if the Fauci’s and Birx’s of our government had resigned with purpose. That can be said of many who have been co-opted into supporting the President with the idea that they were “preventing harm”.
Confidence is an easy thing to lose, and a very difficult thing to win back. Even if the next President is Joe Biden, it won’t change the impact of the flips and flops of our scientists as well as our political leaders.
But it’s certainly worth the try.
