COVID REDUCTION STARTS WITH LEADERSHIP AT THE TOP
National medical mobilization efforts regarding COVID-19 are in political disarray. Going back in history, what America was experiencing during WWII is eerily similarity of the challenges to bring all our resources to bear. The WWII efforts were also controversial, yet they were overcome by patriotism facing a common cause and active leadership. In today’s social media fervor, disseminating a clear message of keeping the people safe is critical. Today, however, the concern is that we have a President who does not view COVID-19 as the national deadly threat that it is and therefore, neither do his followers. Under Trump, every sector of our society is impacted, due in large measure to the lack of leadership to institute early quarantine, isolation measures and the measures to enforce them. Joe Biden continues to espouse what is needed and why it is important. This election gives us the power to render judgement.
While the President was in Florida yesterday speaking to his mask-less followers telling them “we have turned the corner,” today Florida’s health department reported an increase of 5,592 COVID-19 cases, along with 72 more resident deaths. It is the fourth day in a row — and the seventh time since October 17 — that the state has surpassed 4,000 new cases in a day. Florida is now up to 800,216 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 16,720 resident deaths, according to the health department’s dashboard. Apparently not following the statistics like his father, today Donald Trump Jr. made another empathetically detached statement saying COVID-19 deaths are at “almost nothing.”
As an American citizen and a veteran, I am greatly alarmed by the increased number of COVID-19 deaths and the increase in suicides across our military branches. Our military is the tip of the spear in our national and foreign defense. The unequivocal lack of leadership to mandating a national COVID-19 defense plan gravely impacts our veteran families. The uncertainty of navigating through this unprecedented period is adding stress on our commanders and their soldiers. Our top brass was recently quarantined after the Coast Guard’s №2 admiral, contracted COVID-19 after his attendance at a White House ceremony for Gold Star families on September 27. No masks were required. The President keeps tweeting erroneous information about medicine/vaccine the medical community has yet to approve and release — saying he was treated and ‘cured’ with these. He also tweeted that “using logistics,” the military would distribute the experimental drug used for his treatment.
We already see long quarantine periods in closed barracks rooms, unexpected extensions for training and deployments, travel restrictions that have kept service members separated from their families for more than six months. Actions have consequences, words matter, and we are seeing a ripple effect driven from the top, of not following prescribed public health guidance.
Recently, Vice President Biden gave a unifying speech at the one of the most important Civil War battles fought at Gettysburg. Highlighting at the time, we had 210,000 COVID-19 deaths and climbing, in a somber way, a comparison to the number of deaths (235,00) Union soldiers who perished in this bloody four-year Civil War due to non-combat reasons, and exceeded the estimated 195,000 lost on the Confederate side. We are steadily approaching the total of both — 214,000.
An important opportunity to display leadership and lessen the political divide was squandered by President Trump; after contracting the virus, being hospitalized at Walter Reed, then defiantly doubling down on the balcony of the White House. Most of the nation hoped he would have changed his rhetoric but he has instead kept the national dialogue controversial. “Don’t be afraid of COVID. Don’t let it dominate your life.” The travesty is that the message will be taken to heart by many innocent people who will not do the right thing. Ninety-nine percent of this nation does NOT have access to the medicines and care the President has.
On October 8, The New England Journal of Medicine published an article which stated that the leaders in the United States have miserably failed to show the world that we have the best medicine, science, infrastructure and manufacturing capacity, as well as a biomedical research system that is the envy of the world. They praised our nation’s expertise in public health, its policy and ability to consistently turn that expertise into new therapies and preventive measures. I ask you, why then are we in the predicament we are in?
We need a leader not a divider. At the first presidential debate, the President mocked Vice President Biden. He said, “every time you see him, he’s got a mask.” Just 48 hours later, the President announced he had tested positive for COVID. Let’s render the right judgement at this election, our country needs a leader.
