We don’t want the government to fail, but so far it has

We don’t want our federal government to fail. Because if our federal government fails, then our country fails. But our federal government hasn’t succeeded in its response to the coronavirus. Strong local governments might keep states afloat in this time of crisis, but without clear and reasonable federal guidance during this pandemic, we fail on the national scale.

There are arguments to be made for both the successes and shortcomings of the government’s response, but let’s look at the numbers for a moment. For reference, the coronavirus case numbers come from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center as of early Wednesday afternoon.

Compare the U.S., Italy (which was hit hard and fast) and China, where the first case of the coronavirus in humans was reported. The U.S. has an infection rate of 0.12% relative to our total population. That means 1 out of every 392,640 people is known to have COVID-19. There may be more because testing is limited and eligibility guidelines strict. Italy’s infection rate is 0.23%, or 1 out of 138,828 people confirmed to have COVID-19.
Our population is five times larger than Italy’s, but our infection rate is only half of theirs. China’s infection rate, however, is only 0.006%, 20 times lower than ours, and they’re starting to reopen cities and provinces, even as the U.S. struggles to convince people to stay at home.

We are not recommending imitating China’s incredibly strict shutdown. But when we compare China’s numbers to ours, it’s clear leaving states to fend for themselves has led to greater infection rates.

China had the least time to respond to this rising pandemic. For three months, the U.S. watched the rest of the world combat COVID-19. Our national government didn’t take the coronavirus seriously until mid-March. Trump was still touting “I think that’s a problem that’s going to go away,” the same week the U.S. reported its first case of community-transmitted COVID-19. And the numbers have grown exponentially since.

Some states acted early; some states still haven’t acted at all. Gov. Justice started closing down places where people gather as soon as the first case was confirmed March 17. Some states’s refusal to shut down spring break destinations let hundreds of young people gather, transmit the virus and then take it back home. A strong national response could have prevented that.

Not only has our federal government failed to coordinate the coronavirus response to protect the whole nation, it has also failed to lead by example. At the same press conference where President Trump first mentioned social distancing, he insisted on shaking every speaker’s hand as he/she approached and left the podium. Not to mention the Coronavirus Task Force practically standing on top of each other during televised speeches throughout March. Just in the past week, after the CDC announced people should wear masks in public, Trump insisted he won’t wear one. Sadly, people will follow his example because he is the leader of the free world.

We don’t want our federal government to fail. We want it to step up, to coordinate the pandemic response so states don’t fight or undermine each other. We want our national leaders to set good examples. But, so far, we’ve been disappointed.