The COVID-19 pandemic continues to worsen in the USA with 1·3 million cases and an estimated death toll of 80 684 as of May 12. States that were initially the hardest hit, such as New York and New Jersey, have decelerated the rate of infections and deaths after the implementation of 2 months of lockdown. However, the emergence of new outbreaks in Minnesota, where the stay-at-home order is set to lift in mid-May, and Iowa, which did not enact any restrictions on movement or commerce, has prompted pointed new questions about the inconsistent and incoherent national response to the COVID-19 crisis.The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the flagship agency for the nation’s public health, has seen its role minimised and become an ineffective and nominal adviser in the response to contain the spread of the virus. The strained relationship between the CDC and the federal government was further laid bare when, according to The Washington Post, Deborah Birx, the head of the US COVID-19 Task Force and a former director of the CDC’s Global HIV/AIDS Division, cast doubt on the CDC’s […]
Saturday, May 16th, 2020
Reviving the US CDC
Author:
Source: The Lancet (U.K.)
Publication Date: VOLUME 395, ISSUE 10236, P1521, MAY 16, 2020
Link: Reviving the US CDC
Source: The Lancet (U.K.)
Publication Date: VOLUME 395, ISSUE 10236, P1521, MAY 16, 2020
Link: Reviving the US CDC
Stephan: This condemnation of the vulgar little gremlin who occupies the White House is unprecedented. Lancet is one of the three most prestigious medical journals in the world -- the other two being The Journal of the American Medical Association, and The British Medical Journal. As far as I can remember Lancet has never before taken such a position against an American president, and this Lancet editorial, I think, should be seen as a major alarm bell from a non-American source, telling us how seriously Donald Trump and the ethically depraved people around him have debased and degraded the United States.
Every idiotic move that Trump does adds to his impeachment credentials. He should have been impeached by the Senate when they had the chance. They now have more evidence of his inability to lead the government.
Reading this, I cannot help but think that the country is divesting power into the states, as any kind of meaningful central government falls apart due to corruption and incompetence, and the states are basically left to their own devices. Sadly, many states also lack meaningful leadership.