Let medical experts, not politicians, handle COVID-19

ACHTUNG: This is not a “fair and balanced” article. It is an editorial by the editor.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, whose fame has risen far and wide because of the COVID-19 crisis, made a significant televised comment the other day about what may have exacerbated a horrible American response to the deadly virus.

Dr. Fauci suggested the U.S. made a serious error in combatting the Coronvirus in 50 different ways rather than meeting it head-on as a national emergency.

Indeed, President Donald Trump himself regarded the situation as a war and referred to himself as a “war president.”

You don’t fight a war state-by-state, you unify your country and fight as one. Any wheelchair general knows that.

If this flies in the face of the tired old “states’ rights” argument, so be it. States’ rights is trotted out so often as the reason the Confederacy seceded from this nation 160 years ago, and it’s been used too often as excuses for prolonging systemic racism and segregation.

I would add to the U.S. fatal flaws in handling the pandemic turning a health issue into a political issue, not turning over major decisions about our defense to medical experts, and the lack of national health care, such as Medicare for All. With Medicare for All, every patient is willing to get tested and quarantined.

The United States, by all objective measurements, has shown the worst, most feckless response to the pandemic. America has about 4.5 percent of the world’s population but is recording one-fourth of the word’s number of cases and deaths. Yes. We’re number one.

But the “liberal media,” most of which is owned by corporations, is spending far too much time talking about the many missteps made by Trump and China in the early going. Much more discussion now should be about what needs to be done moving forward.

Yet, the President, the Senate and the House still are guilty of doing nothing, and their inertia is costing far too many lives. Since it seems as though nobody is laying out what should happen, here are my unwelcome suggestions:

• Immediately de-politicize the Coronavirus by turning over all decisions on how to proceed to those in the know, medical experts.
• Implement a Single Payer, Medicare for All health care system so no American is without health insurance, which was lost by too many who had their jobs deleted in the last four months. So much for those employer-based health care benefits, Mr. Biden.
• Start hiring and training regional testers and tracers in an effort to cut into the unemployment rate.
• Do not resume face-to-face school until it’s understood that it is safe for students.
• Fire all police officers who refuse to enforce orders to wear masks. They are politicizing a health issue unnecessarily and flouting the law.
• If deemed necessary for medical reasons, go to temporary lockdowns to reduce or halt the spread of the virus.

Canada, New Zealand and much of Europe took the bull by the horns and their efforts proved much more effective than the travesty we’ve put up with here for far too long. You can look up the stats, they don’t lie.

As I editorialized not long ago, the biggest reasons for our failure in coping with COVID-19 were hubris and turning a health issue into a political issue.

I’m David T. Young, and I approve this message because I am sick and tired of do-nothing politicians who can’t, or won’t solve serious problems. If they won’t, bring in somebody who will.