Thread by @FinancialTimes

New York governor Andrew Cuomo has been praised for his handling of the state’s coronavirus pandemic, but a closer examination of the beginning of the US crisis tells a less flattering story — one that shows how poor decisions harmed the country 👇
on.ft.com/2HiB6eS

The crucial early weeks of the outbreak were marked by divisions: between New York and Washington; the governor and New York City mayor; the mayor and his health department; and the city’s richest and poorest hospitals
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Our understanding of coronavirus has improved since March, but interviews with dozens of people at the centre of New York’s response show that its leaders were warned of the threat and could have acted faster
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Test availability was also a big problem. The Trump administration took a long time to allow local labs to make their own, missing a chance not just to save New York from further suffering, but to stop the virus from spreading to other states
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Unable to block the virus early on, New York’s leaders chose the bluntest tool available: a lockdown. Businesses were divided: while big companies grounded staff, smaller ones urged officials to ease restrictions ft.com/content/a52198…

While New York City’s mayor and the state’s governor debated whether to close schools and businesses, a disparate group outside the official channels was pushing them to take more aggressive action
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New York avoided neither a public health crisis nor an economic crisis, but polls suggest Andrew Cuomo’s popularity is at its highest level since he took office in 2011
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Many of the divisions that emerged at the beginning of the outbreak still persist, raising questions about whether lessons were learnt from New York’s fraught spring — and as it enters the winter with cases climbing once more
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