I’ve been skeptical of everything covid since April 2020. I am aware that makes me come off as the old Groucho Marx “Whatever it is, I’m against it” type.
So what should we do, Sherlock? For this article, I’m thinking the Biden administration, given the administration’s self-professed competence and adherence to science. But parts also apply to Trump and state governments.
Treat proof of recovery the same as or better than proof of vaccination
Scale up healthcare infrastructure
Invoke the Defense Production Act to order the mass production of rapid covid and antibody tests, reusable N95 masks, and treatments like monoclonal antibodies, ivermectin, etc.
The only way to get covid “under control” is to quickly and reliably figure out who has it, limit spread using credible measures, and save lives/shorten infections through proven treatments.
Use OSHA or relevant federal and state agencies to mandate filtering and ventilation standards, especially within multifamily buildings
Every single time I bring this up to a vax-focused relative it is dismissed as too hard. It’s not too hard. Every building manager can install a MERV 12 or higher filter, open the building’s dampers, and measure the results with a CO2 sensor that doesn’t cost more than a couple hundred bucks.
Having worked on sustainability in buildings for years I am positive that a huge driver of infections in urban areas in the US and Europe is concentrating people in multifamily apartments where the disease spreads freely through the air ducts between units.
Focus restrictions and punitive actions on those who have tested positive, been exposed, or are in a known vulnerable category
If you test positive and break quarantine, that’s on you, and you should be liable to fines. Applying the same restrictions to the rest of us, when statistically over 75% of us don’t have covid at any given time is not viable or sustainable.
Provide free or reduced price delivery service and house calls to the elderly and those diagnosed with diabetes or respiratory illness
Anyone not living under a rock has surely seen that many of the people in grocery stores, in restaurants, and in elective healthcare offices at the height of covid were elderly people who had no business doing so. Provide reduced price delivery to anyone whose driver’s license number identifies them as over 65 or whatever threshold you want to set.
Distribute vitamin D and C kits at every testing center
If someone is concerned enough to get tested, they should be taking vitamin C and vitamin D supplements. This is an easy way to save hundreds of lives.
Focus direct financial assistance on those with required in-person jobs below regionally appropriate income levels
Throwing out money to every household, including relatively affluent households with the breadwinner working from home (such as mine) is insane when you have lower income individuals out of work for extended periods.
Forbid administration officials from speaking publicly about vaccines and masks without speaking about ventilation and the preference for n95 masks
The reason no one wears n95s or thinks about ventilation is because no one talks about them. Talk about them.
Forbid administration officials from speaking about surface sanitization, plexiglass screens, and handwashing
These things were proven not to work over a year ago. It’s time to move on.
Uphold constitutional rights by avoiding restrictions on churches, other places of worship, freedom of assembly, and freedom of speech
The constitution is not suspended during the pandemic, and those of any political persuasion should be allowed to publicly protest, speak their mind, and worship without discrimination disguised as public health guidance.
Create livable quarantine centers in vacant hotels, resorts
Some, particularly in multigeneration households, need pleasant, social places to quarantine when they get sick. Instead of wasting money on boondoggles like contact tracing, create spaces where people want to go to discourage them from going elsewhere and infecting others.
Demand competence from local and state governments
Why was Seattle and the state of Washington permitting Seattle Sounders games when multiple nursing home residents were dying of covid in February 2020? Why were states not allowed to administer their own tests during the same timeframe? Competent state governments are a must to implement and enforce any public health guidelines, and it does no good to create the expectation that they are empty shells that punt everything to the feds.
Enforce Accountability
A comprehensive response to a pandemic requires people across the political spectrum to make sacrifices and endure restrictions they hate for a prolonged period.
Getting people in a country like America to follow through requires universal trust from everyone. A plan and a set of administrators that have lost credibility with large chunks of the country are not good enough.
Americans need the government to acknowledge and address the abject incompetence and lying they’ve been forced to live with for two years. Otherwise they will not take those officials and their guidance seriously.
Briefly:
The officials at the FDA who botched the US’s initial covid tests in February 2020 should be named and fired.
To stay on as Chief Medical Officer Fauci should be removed from any position of influence over NIH grant funding, a clear conflict of interest.
He should also be ordered to stop playing semantic games about gain of function research, the public availability of his financial disclosures, or his clear denial that masks are effective on 60 Minutes in March 2020.
If he refuses to comply, fire him.
Censure politicians who fail to abide by their own covid restrictions, such as Gretchen Whitmer and Gavin Newsom.
Publicly name and fine hospitals that are proven to have lied about their covid statistics.
Do the same to those who have engaged in malpractice by refusing to use treatments proven to be effective, ranging from vitamin D to ivermectin.
Demand that officials in the FDA, CDC, and media with links to the pharmaceutical companies disclose these links publicly and, where feasible, recuse themselves from pharmaceutical-related guidance and reporting. How many people know that the head of Reuters for most of 2020 is a Pfizer board member?
Admit fault
Missteps early in any war are understandable. But the government needs to provide clear answers to basic questions.
Why did the trained, experienced public health establishment contradict itself on everything from surface transmission to masks for months? Surely these are basic questions that a public health official should be expected to get right from the get-go? Fauci needs to take the lead here and eat some humble pie.
Get real about masks
Masks are dubiously effective at best. If you’re going to insist on them, provide defensible standards around mask material. When your mask mandates result in most people wearing unfitted cloth masks, your mask mandates get people killed because they encourage some vulnerable people to go places they shouldn’t be going under the false pretense that masks will keep them safe.
People hate masks. They are uncomfortable and are a barrier to communication. Instead of demonizing people who point out these commonsense issues, address their concerns. Manufacture n95 standard masks with soft, adjustable straps, that are see-through.
Deal even-handedly with misinformation
Franklin Templeton pointed out in summer 2020 that people vastly overstated the risk of covid, and this was more common among democrats and those who used social media for news. Yet it is only ever right-leaning voices like Robert Malone who are censored.
Start flagging voices who proclaim vaccine and cloth mask effectiveness that does not really exist. Do the same to any voices and guidance that are still talking about sanitization and hand washing. Call out groups like teacher unions that refuse to return to work when approved guidelines are in place. Do the same to those who exaggerate the risks of covid well beyond the scientific evidence.
There is no clear cut way to “end” the pandemic. But the current approach of lurching from crisis to crisis is not working. Nor is the Obama-era trope of sticking to failed policies and blaming one’s political opponents and using dorm room meme level language. Governments need to stick to the facts, focus on those directly infected and vulnerable, and restore trust across the political spectrum through honesty and accountability. Covid is not going anywhere, and we need to establish long-term measures to take the edge off that we can agree on and implement successfully.
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