Is there anyone in the USA right now who *believes it is their job* to stop COVID-19?
During the American polio epidemic of the early 20th century, Harry Weaver at the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis played this role: 
Weaver saw when research was *just* close enough to actually put a plan together and execute it, and then directed researchers and channeled funding to make it happen.
(This quote and previous from Polio: An American Story, by Oshinsky)
(This quote and previous from Polio: An American Story, by Oshinsky)
Another example: During the smallpox eradication project of the 1960s and '70s, D. A. Henderson, chief of the surveillance section at the CDC, led the efforts for the WHO. I wrote about this as part of my history of smallpox: rootsofprogress.org/smallpox-and-v…
Henderson's leadership seems key to making eradication a success. He and his team worked against and around the bureaucracy of the WHO to achieve the goal. (The WHO director-general at the time actually thought the program was a bad idea, and was convinced it would fail!)
Here's a list of dozens of federal agencies and how each is responding to #COVID19 within the scope of their own little fiefdoms. Who is thinking about the problem holistically? usa.gov/coronavirus#it…
Why is the CDC merely “studying the virus worldwide and helping communities respond locally”?
Where's “making a plan to solve this thing”?
Where's “making a plan to solve this thing”?
OK, wait, the DHS is “facilitating a whole-of-government response.” That sounds good. What are they doing?
Here's the DHS's #COVID19 page: dhs.gov/coronavirus
First, they open with laughable self-congratulation. “Speedy”?
Here's the DHS's #COVID19 page: dhs.gov/coronavirus
First, they open with laughable self-congratulation. “Speedy”?
Reading the rest of that page, it's clear they're only thinking about border control, etc. Look at the agencies involved (CBP, TSA, ICE, etc.) and what they're doing (e.g., health screenings at airports).
So this is just another agency thinking within their own narrow domain.
So this is just another agency thinking within their own narrow domain.
Yes, this. Can we just give @ScottGottliebMD authority and a budget already?
Now @billgates I would trust. He has the focus, motivation, judgment, organizational and leadership skills, and funding.
And he's obviously working on this. I hope he is thinking in the broadest possible terms and coming up with a plan.
And he's obviously working on this. I hope he is thinking in the broadest possible terms and coming up with a plan.
In the absence of leadership, there are many excellent bottom-up efforts: individual hospital administrators ramping up local capacity; pharma companies searching for drugs and vaccines and making tests; some projects underway to build more ventilators; etc. But…
Who will seek out novel ideas? Who will fund promising efforts that don't otherwise have funding? Who will think outside the bounds of existing domains? Who will communicate a comprehensive, integrated solution?
For instance, why isn't anyone ordering lots more ventilators?
What about getting more creative with testing? We seem to be only thinking about the PCR test right now. But—
There are other types of tests. E.g., this blood antibody test, which is not as sensitive or accurate as PCR, but is comparatively fast, cheap and easy. Why aren't we doing a lot of these? Positives could be confirmed by PCR if we want more certainty. biomedomics.com/products/infec…
And what about just taking everybody's temperature all the time, to discover fevers early? (I gather they do this in Asia)
Rapid, cheap, ubiquitous testing can get us out of lockdown quickly and get lives & the economy going again:
Rapid, cheap, ubiquitous testing can get us out of lockdown quickly and get lives & the economy going again:
But to return to the beginning, this kind of planning & leadership seems to be no one's job:
• Government fragmented into petty fiefdoms, probably at odds with each other
• Health industry ossified by decades of market distortion via creeping regulation and tax code
• Government fragmented into petty fiefdoms, probably at odds with each other
• Health industry ossified by decades of market distortion via creeping regulation and tax code
• No private foundation stepping up, unless maybe @BillGates arrives to save us all. Or @ChanZuckerberg?
Or @JeffBezos if he's not too busy shipping us all our food and medical supplies?
Or @JeffBezos if he's not too busy shipping us all our food and medical supplies?
