Out of control

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows acknowledged in late October that the United States is “not going to control the pandemic.” Hong Kong, a city about the size of New York, is always trying to control the pandemic.

As an American citizen who spends time each year in both cities, I have lived through what feels like a bipolar response to covid-19.

One country has dug in its heels; the other has thrown up its hands. When I flew back to the United States in May, a Cathay Pacific flight attendant gave me a contact-tracing form and urgently told me to fill it out.

Upon arrival at LAX, no one would take the form. And so I went on my way holding on to all of my contact-tracing information.

Returning to Hong Kong in late October, I was required to fill out a contact-tracing form online before boarding my flight. It provided me with a unique QR code. I used that code to run a public health gauntlet when I arrived at Hong Kong International Airport.

People who arrive after noon are taken by bus to a utilitarian hotel for an overnight stay, paid for by the Hong Kong government. When test results come in at about noon the next day, those who tested negative go on their way, while those who tested positive are whisked away to government quarantine.

Once home, an app downloaded at the airport keep track of new arrivals. Anyone who breaks the rules is put into government quarantine.

I am not arguing that this would be possible to implement in the United States. It is laborintensive, expensive and tramples on privacy. But it helps explain why some countries are stopping the spread and others are failing.

Since Meadows laid bare his approach, the virus has spread like wildfire, including to him. Isn’t it time for Americans to dig in their heels and, like Hong Kong, actively try to control the pandemic?