Incompetence is virus’ best friend

Based on America’s woefully inadequate response thus far to the coronavirus pandemic, that statement perfectly describes why we remain so far behind the eight-ball.

The government’s incompetence has directly resulted in the unfettered spread of the COVID-19 (C19). The objective in focusing on mistakes is so that lessons can be learned.

Not only does constructive criticism call out egregious decisions, but, if loud enough, it leads to changed behaviors and better policies. And, unlike mundane tax proposals or omnibus spending bills, the difference between good and bad decisions with C19 affects life and death. Therefore, it is our collective duty, and indeed obligation, to put politics aside and call out mistakes.

Following are just a few mindblowing policy decisions. Above all, it proves that no matter how many academic degrees or titles “experts” have, they don’t automatically equate to competence and common sense.

Independence Hall: How can the birthplace of liberty, a magnet for American and international tourists, still be open? And how can the federal government declare a national emergency, yet still put millions at risk by refusing to close it?

Delaware County: How can a county with more people than Wyoming not have a Health Department?

It’s a disgrace that Delco is one of America’s most populous counties without one. No words.

President Trump: During the president’s press conference last Friday, he did virtually everything wrong. Consider the protocol breaches: he shook hands with everyone; the podium was filled with people packed tightly together – in blatant violation of the CDC’s rule of 6-foot social distancing; the president, who had direct contact with two corona-infected people, was standing literally inches from the vice president; and the press were on top of one another.

Making the sin mortal was that the nation’s top infectious disease specialist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, was in attendance with the president!

Trump Administration: The incompetency list would fill volumes, so here are several of the most incomprehensible: the travel ban with China was enacted weeks late, and the twoday advance notice gave possibly infected Chinese nationals time to enter America; the State Department placed both healthy and corona-infected Americans together on the same plane; the Department of HHS sent a team to Wuhan, epicenter of the hot zone, to retrieve Americans, but provided neither training nor protective equipment; travelers entering America from hot zone proximities were not being tested upon arrival, nor having temperatures taken, nor even questioned — and this author was one of them; and the administration was long overdue in declaring a national emergency. That impotence left the feds far behind the lead of states, private companies and colleges, which enacted sound isolation/ mitigation strategies.

Even more infuriating was the government’s response to its mask shortage, after revealing it had less than 10 percent of the 300 million necessary for health care workers. The administration got caught with its pants down, so it tried shaming those buying masks. The surgeon general excoriated Americans, claiming masks weren’t effective – but in the next breath, claimed our health care workers needed them. So which is it?

Put another way: there’s a riot in your neighborhood, and the police respond without guns because the they forgot to buy them. The chief then scolds anyone buying weapons, arguing that the police needed them. Sorry, but the safety of Americans should never be jeopardized because of their government’s complacency. And yes, people do need masks, not just for venturing out when necessary, but to protect sick people, and their caretakers, at home.

Airline ban: What is the point of banning flights from Europe if you exclude the UK and Ireland? In case the president didn’t know, one could take the Chunnel to England and fly from there. Yes, the ban has now been extended to all of Europe, but the initial incompetence demonstrates an alarming lack of virus awareness.

And, by the way, why was England recommending, instead of mandating, quarantines for those who recently arrived from the Italian hot zone?

Ignorance is bliss, and incompetence is dreadful. But it’s a crying, and dying, shame when people die because of them.