The Feds ’ Sorry Record on COVID-19

David BoazThey say journalism is the first rough draft of history. With the Covid pandemic now a year old, we are starting to seebooks on the topic. And variouslibertarianstudies andarticles, critically examining government andprivate-sector responses to the crisis, have appeared. But some of those rough drafts in the major media add up to a pretty strong critique of government failure by themselves. Just consider the disappointing, even tragic, analyses that have been appearing over the past year:The federal government hadreports andwarnings andwar games aboutpandemic danger at least as far back as 2001, butwas apparently unprepared when it hit.Simulationsas recently as 2019 predicted that agencies would fail to work together even after all those reports and plans.A Seattle lab doing a flu study proposed in February 2020 to start monitoring the novel coronavirus. When it couldn ' t get approval from state and federal officials, the lab went ahead on its own. As the New York Timesreported, " the Seattle Flu Study illustrates how existing regulations and red tape — sometimes designed to protect privacy and health — have impeded the rapid rollout of testing nationally. "Washington Post, March 16: " From mid-January until Feb. 28, fewer than 4,000 tests from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were used out of more 160,000 produced. The United States ’ struggles, in [German entrepreneur Olfert] Landt’s view, stemmed from the fact the country took too long...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs