Benchmarks for when restrictions can be eased, with some restrictions on large gatherings and mass transit remaining until herd immunity is achieved.Isolation of individuals who test positive for COVID-19, individuals who have a fever, and front-line health care workers.Public alerts and mapping to inform the general public of the location of COVID-19 cases.Instantaneous contact tracing and isolation of individuals who were in close proximity to a positive case.Robust surveillance testing of representative samples of every county, including counties that are not reporting any cases.Ramping up testing to South Korean levels so that every individual who has a fever, and every member of a household of a positive case, has access to a test.A stay-at-home policy for a minimum of 45 days starting April 5.In order to contemplate reopening the economy, even in phases, the following components are necessary: There is no conflict between aggressive public health measures that save lives and economic growth: In a study of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, cities that intervened earlier and more aggressively had faster economic growth after the pandemic. Americans are willing to make sacrifices and do their part to break transmission, but they need to have faith that there is a plan in place that will work. It will be far more devastating to our economy-and to public health-to experience waves and waves of virus response rather than properly return to normal when it is truly safe.
The result would be repeated waves of exponential transmission followed by lockdowns, wreaking havoc on the economy and peoples’ lives. Without a coherent, evidence-based plan in place-a path forward, clear benchmarks, and an end in sight-the public and government officials may grow weary of physical distancing prematurely. Now they may well need to take the lead in developing a plan to end the crisis. In the vacuum of federal leadership, governors and mayors of many states and cities have taken the lead in implementing aggressive measures to suppress transmission. A comprehensive, multifaceted plan is needed to reopen the economy without sparking a second wave of infections. Most importantly, we need to act now to ensure the country has developed the necessary health infrastructure to allow us to gradually reopen our economy. April 30 is still too early, and the steps necessary to ease restrictions have not been laid out. Because the administration did not take the pandemic seriously when cases first emerged in the United States, our response is now far behind that of countries such as South Korea as a result, our death toll will be far higher.* Although President Donald Trump reversed course and extended the federal government’s physical distancing guidelines from April 12 through April 30, the guidelines are not aggressive enough. The Trump administration has failed to develop a coherent, evidence-based plan to end the coronavirus crisis.
0 kommentar(er)
