Thread by @ChrisMurphyCT

THREAD ON THE PATH FORWARD:

1/ Other countries taught us we cannot turn the corner on coronavirus w/o a comprehensive system of TESTING, TRACING, and QUARANTINE.

The Trump Administration has zero plan to stand up that system nationally.

That's frightening and it must change.

2/ The first step is to test widely. That might not mean testing the asymptomatic. But it certainly means aggressively testing anyone with symptoms, doing it quickly, and getting the results quickly.

That's not happening now, and Trump has no plan to ramp up.

3/ 2nd step is to quickly trace back & find everyone the infected person was in physical contact with. That takes personnel, effort and expertise. Other nations didn't just leave it to the individual to do it alone.

But again, Trump has no interest in creating this capacity.

4/ Finally, all those people must be quarantined. But for the disabled, elderly, or people that have to go to work, quarantine is really hard.

Taiwan paid people to quarantine. Maybe we don't do that, but there must be a system of supports in place to make quarantine feasible.

5/ And it's madness to require every state, or every country, or every city to become overnight experts in TEST, TRACK, AND QUARANTINE. This is complicated, nuanced public health policy.

And having thousands of different, conflicting systems makes no sense either.

6/ The Trump Administration either has to implement a national program, or develop and establish a program and then fund the states to implement it.

But right now, Trump isn't doing either, and worse, doesn't seem to care about or understand the danger of inaction.