U.S. Actions on COVID-19: Too Little, Too Much, or About Right?

What do you think? Has the United States taken too little, too much, or about the right amount of action to combat the COVID-19 pandemic?

Too Little?

In hindsight, I think it’s easy to state that the United States did too little in the early stages of the pandemic. Currently the United States has more COVID-19 deaths than any other nation on Earth. In per capita deaths, it ranks 11th of 140 countries listed in data on Statista.com[1] as of May 3rd, 2020. If this nation had done more sooner, many if not most of these deaths could have been prevented.

More could have been done to restrict travel and to increase social distancing. More could have been done to accelerate production and acquisition of facial masks, other protective equipment, and thermometers.

But in the early days of the virus in autumn 2019 and even January 2020, little was known about the virus. And although it apparently began last autumn in China, China only publicly acknowledged it on December 31st, 2019 in early winter, when China reported the first cases.

And though many now criticize President Trump for reacting too slowly, when he took action on January 31 to ban foreigners from entering the United States if they had been in China in the last two weeks, he was criticized by many for overreacting. 

It was not until February 29th that the United States confirmed its first COVID-19 death in the United States. A timeline for the disease is on several websites, including BusinessInsider[2] and ABCNews[3]. A FoxNews article[4] provides a timeline for changes in  rhetoric by politicians and the media during the course of the pandemic.

While it’s easy to make a case that more should have been done sooner, it’s clear that little information was publicly available in the early stages and few seemed to consider it a major threat to the United States.

Too Much?

Many state that currently the United States is doing (and has done) too much. Some claim that restrictions on travel, closing many businesses, requiring facial masks to be worn in public, and urging persons to maintain social distancing of at least 6 feet go too far.

It’s certainly true that the closing of numerous businesses has taken a huge toll on the economy. Over 30 million persons have filed for unemployment in recent weeks, and many more have tried to  unsuccessfully. Some businesses and individuals may end up filing for bankruptcy despite trillions of dollars of government aid that has been provided.

But it’s important to remember that such closures are not unprecedented. During the 1918-19 flu pandemic, many similar restrictions occurred. Taking action sooner this time, may save millions of lives. Also, the closures are likely to be only for a few months. Indeed, many states are already reopening a lot of businesses. And if there is no second wave, the various restrictions will likely be loosened and eventually lifted.

About Right?

It’s too early, I think, to state whether the United States is taking about the right amount of action. Currently states offer a variety of guidelines and restrictions. In the coming weeks and months we will likely find out which approaches work best.

And obviously situations are different in New York City where huge numbers of persons typically ride subway cars together for several minutes or an hour or more in some cases than they are in rural farming areas where persons are already isolated from most others.

My Conclusion

It is clear that more should have been done sooner. China should have disclosed more information publicly sooner. The United States, the World Health Organization, and various countries should have done more.

But I think it’s unfair to criticize so harshly in hindsight, when so much remained unknown at that time.

In many ways the government did too little early.

In some ways it may be doing too much now. As I see it, I think many businesses could reopen with social distancing and masks.

But, really, we won’t know until some time weeks, months, or years later where we failed and where we succeeded. We just need to take it step by step. Let’s seek to do our best and trust God for the rest!

ENDNOTES:

1 Raynor de Best; “COVID-19 deaths worldwide per one million population as of May 3, 2020”; Statista.com; published May 3, 2020; webpage accessed May 3, 2020; https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104709/coronavirus-deaths-worldwide-per-million-inhabitants/

2 Holly Secon, Aylin Woodward and Dave Mosher; “A comprehensive timeline of the new corona virus pandemic, from China’s first COVID-19 case to the present”; BusinessInsider.com; April 23, 2020; webpage accessed May 3, 2020; https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-pandemic-timeliine-history-major-events-2020-3

3 Erin Schumaker; “Timeline: How coronavirus got started”; ABCNews; April 23, 2020; webpage accessed May 3, 2020; https://abcnews.go.com/Health/timeline-coronavirus-started/story?id=69435165

4 Gregg Re; “Coronavirus timeline shows politicians’, media’s changing rhetoric on risk of pandemic”; FoxNews; published April 6, 2020, last update April 20, 2020; webpage accessed May 3, 2020; https://www.foxnews.com/politics/from-new-york-to-canada-to-the-white-house-initial-coronavirus-responses-havent-aged-well

DISCLOSURE:

The author works part-time at a retail store. The store he works at remains open. Among other things, it sells a lot of groceries, cleaning supplies, and toilet paper.

NOTE:

This article being submitted to Google Blogger on May 3, 2020 is virtually identical to one the author submitted earlier the same day to Craft News Report, a website operated by his friend Paul Craft.