According to the latest statistics from Johns Hopkins University in the United States, the cumulative number of confirmed covid-19 cases in the United States has exceeded 45 million, and the cumulative number of deaths has exceeded 730,000, which is the highest in the world. How did this country, which claims to have the world's richest medical resources and medical capacity, come to this point?
On October 26, Frederick Southwick, guest columnist for the Gainesville Sun, a Florida media outlet, wrote that government officials were to blame for the mistakes they made in responding to the epidemic.
Why?
Why is the United States the country with the highest number of confirmed and fatal COVID-19 cases? Southwick writes: "This question reminds me of what happened to my ex-wife, Mary. "Due to doctors' lapses, Mary ended up in intensive care with a survival rate of less than 10 percent. And "these mistakes are similar to those made by government officials in responding to the outbreak." ”
As a local infectious disease specialist in Gainesville, Southwick concluded that the outbreak in the United States is so serious "because we have failed to take consistent prevention and control measures." States went their own way, with governors such as Texas and Florida refusing to take steps to curb the spread of the virus. ”
First, just as the general physicians focused only on Mary's local illness and neglected the systemic illness, these officials made a blinding, rash judgment mistake.
In the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak, several governors promoted the Great Barrington Declaration to promote the normal functioning of society and remain open, claiming that the implementation of prevention and control restrictions caused more harm than the new crown virus.
One might argue that Sweden has also adopted this policy and is moving in the direction of "herd immunity". But the result: by mid-December 2020, the country's COVID-19 mortality rate was 787 per million people, 4.5-10 times higher than that of neighbouring countries such as Finland, Norway and Denmark, which had implemented prevention and control measures.
Second, despite lessons learned from Sweden's fight against the epidemic and a large number of resources such as COVID-19 vaccines in hand, many governors continue to go their own way and are not affected by the changes and developments of the situation.
These officials are stubborn and repeatedly emphasize the same view that prevention and control measures are not good for enterprises. "To support their decision-making, governors carefully selected data, claiming that wearing masks is harmful, citing a retracted study that falsely claimed masks were linked to carbon dioxide accumulation and also promoted false claims that vaccines were toxic and ineffective."
Third, these officials turned a blind eye to the views of nurses, doctors, and other health care workers, patients and their families, leading to one-sided decisions.
"Just as Mary's doctors ignored my concerns because I was 'too emotional,' many politicians showed instinctive bias," Sothwick wrote, writing that an unfounded aversion to a certain group led them to ignore the opinions of others.
The price of "freedom"
Finally, and most worryingly, policy in the field of science has been politicized. In the United States, the word "freedom" is tied to the government's vaccination requirements, the "mask order" and other prevention and control measures, and support for "freedom" has become synonymous with opposing prevention and control measures.
"Here's the thing: COVID-19 doesn't tell the difference between Republicans and Democrats." Southwick writes that those who neglect prevention and control measures in the name of "freedom" are more likely to become infected, become seriously ill, or even die.
This explains why the highest number of COVID-19 deaths was recorded in "free" West Virginia, Alabama, Idaho, Wyoming, Florida and Texas. Data collected by Becker Medical Review shows that the number of deaths in a single day in these states is 3.5 to 6.6 times higher than in California and New York, which have taken precautions.
As Mary's condition deteriorated, Southwick changed doctors. The new doctor diagnosed her with vasculitis and began treatment with the corresponding drugs, saving Mary's life. "In order to save the lives of fellow Americans, isn't it time for governors to use their brains to analyze information and make decisions to avoid making fatal cognitive mistakes?"
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Column Editor-in-Chief: Yang Liqun Text Editor: Yang Liqun Caption Source: Xinhua News Agency Photo Editor: Zhu Xuan
Source: Author: Lu Yifei