When it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic, who to trust?\u00a0\u00a0Do we trust the President, with the entire future of his administration riding on making the pandemic \u201cdisappear\u201d?\u00a0\u00a0Do we trust the scientists around him, beaten to a pulp by Presidential tweets and comments?\u00a0\u00a0How about the ex-government scientists, the \u201cformers\u201d from the agencies?\u00a0\u00a0They might be speaking for their silenced friends inside. But the message they send is so radically different than the \u201cexperts\u201d on staff at HSS, FDA, NIH, or CDC.\u00a0\u00a0Who can we trust?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It started with silence.\u00a0\u00a0In the beginning, back in January and February, scientists outside of Washington were warning of a pending pandemic.\u00a0\u00a0They 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.\u00a0\u00a0Where was Dr. Fauci, or Dr. Birx, or all of the other Government \u201cexperts\u201d ringing the alarm bells?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We now know that they were banging those bells with hammers, but did not step outside of the administrative process.\u00a0\u00a0Since those at the top didn\u2019t want or agree with their warnings, the experts remained almost silent.\u00a0\u00a0The scientists didn\u2019t want this to happen, they warned the \u201ctop\u201d that it would get as bad as we are now living. But they didn\u2019t warn the people.\u00a0\u00a0They spoke to the President, and when they were ignored and shouted down, they remained quiet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019t necessary for the public.\u00a0\u00a0We 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\u2019t have masks; there weren\u2019t enough to go around.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But by publicly stating that general mask wearing was unnecessary, the \u201cexperts\u201d 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 \u201cchanged their minds\u201d. 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 \u201cflip\u201d in April was that distrust was created that can\u2019t be undone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You still see the social media posts, intentionally confusing the mask issue. \u201cIf you\u2019re mask works, why do I need one?\u00a0\u00a0If social distancing works, why wear a mask?\u201d The answer is they all work some, and in combination of all, everyone masked, everyone social distancing; the spread of COVID is diminished.\u00a0\u00a0But because we started from \u201cwe don\u2019t need masks\u201d from the experts, it\u2019s easier to attack their use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Centers for Disease Control came out with a strict step-by-step plan for states to reopen.\u00a0\u00a0Two weeks at step-one, then move to step-two.\u00a0\u00a0If statistics support lessened viral spread, maybe move to step-three.\u00a0\u00a0But as soon as the CDC guidance came out, the President immediately attacked.\u00a0\u00a0He pressured states to open without going through the \u201csteps\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0He wanted the economy going again, and he couldn\u2019t wait for control of the virus.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So most Governors, even the ones who were trying to \u201cdo the right thing\u201d like Mike DeWine here in Ohio, threw the CDC guidance out. States \u201cre-opened\u201d 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 \u201cclosing down\u201d were lost as well. But the public pretty much missed that fact, and still thinks today that we did \u201cthe best we could do\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the \u201cexperts\u201d 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019t wrong \u2013 take it from an old school teacher \u2013 lots of good things happen in school. But the reality of today is that our schools haven\u2019t had the resources to do much to prevent COVID transmission. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They haven\u2019t 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 \u201cchanged the safety rules\u201d to fit their financial reality. The six-foot \u201cdistancing\u201d space that we see marked on the floor everywhere \u2013 well it\u2019s 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 \u201cLysol-ing\u201d their classrooms. But that\u2019s about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So just like the states opening without regard to the CDC\u2019s guidance, the schools are doing pretty much the same.\u00a0\u00a0The outcome will be increased viral spread. We are seeing that now in many of the big universities; it’s preordained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now the CDC is telling us that we don\u2019t 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 \u201cclock and a calendar\u201d (thanks Congressman Collins). He\u2019s got to show that the country is getting back to normal, and it has to happen in time for early voting in October. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Trump has already stated that testing makes things look bad. So if we stop testing, then things will look better \u2013 right? It\u2019s already working. As testing slows, with fewer positive outcomes, other government agencies are quick to jump on and say we should \u201cgo back to (more) normal\u201d. Weekends and hurricanes are doing wonders for the testing statistics \u2013 a lot fewer people are testing positive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And there\u2019s the other point the CDC folks quietly make \u2013 we aren\u2019t able to do the contact tracing and quarantining because we don\u2019t have the resources to handle the numbers. So if we can\u2019t get it done, then there\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s really no surprise there\u2019s 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\u2019s and Birx\u2019s 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 \u201cpreventing harm\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019t change the impact of the flips and flops of our scientists as well as our political leaders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s certainly worth the try.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"