Leadership In The Time of Corona
I often cite the last three years as the “dumbest point in American history”. While admittedly extreme — considering the incredible humanitarian work being done all across the country and our own stellar leadership in Minnesota during this particular moment in time — a handful of halfwits and their leader single-handedly give life to that “extreme” statement on a daily basis.
Injecting bleach into your system to destroy COVID-19 is not the first idiotic recommendation President Trump has made (nor will it be the last). One year ago he recommended “water bombing” Norte Dame while it was up in flames; emergency officials noted that the entire structure would have collapsed. In November 2018, he offered up the genius idea that raking up leaves would prevent forest fires, “We’ve got to take care of the floors. The floors of the forest”. In August 2019, he recommended dropping nuclear bombs into hurricanes to stop them from hitting land. In April 2019, he claimed the whirling noise from windmills can cause cancer, the proceeded to claim, “I never understood wind.” While on the subject of wind and renewable energy, let’s look at this beauty from March 2019, “When the wind stops blowing, that’s the end of your electric.”
Three days ago Trump said he disagreed with Anthony Fauci’s statement that the U.S. does not yet have the testing capacity that it needs to effectively contain the spread of the coronavirus, “I think we are doing a great job on testing. If he said that, I don’t agree with him. We’re doing very well on testing.”
A failed businessman, a former (current) reality show host, rapist and a pathological liar — who’s told over 16,000 lies in three years — disagrees with the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’s call to significantly ramp up not only the number of tests, but the capacity to perform them? Color me surprised.
As of today, we have administered 4.9 million tests since the virus first presented itself here in the United States, with roughly 900,000 tests conducted since Monday, April 20. That number — 900K — is important because according to Harvard in order to fully re-mobilize the economy in a safe fashion the United States will need to administer no-less than 20 million coronavirus tests daily by mid-summer.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz recently announced we are going to hit 20,000 tests per day… soon. I’m skeptical at the speed we can achieve an additional 18,000 tests per day in our state, but with Walz working together with Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota, I have no doubt we will get there. It may be a matter of weeks if all the pieces come together, but we will get there because we need to get there. Once the plan is fully up to speed, Minnesota will be testing at a rate higher than anywhere else in the country and quite possibly the world.
During this unprecedented time in American history, when a third of the country is protesting stay-at-home orders in the name of freedom and the economy — effectively protesting science, and doctors and nurses and the entirety of the healthcare industry — we need strong, confident, rational leaders to guide us through to the other side. I am thankful for Governor Tim Walz and his firm, no-nonsense approach to this situation. He offers a perfect balance of facts (knowing the reality of the situation that doesn’t delve into fear mongering) and an incredible amount of hope.
Everyone can work to reduce the spread of COVID-19
- Cover your coughs and sneezes with your elbow or sleeve, or a tissue and then throw the tissue in the trash and wash your hands afterwards.
- Washing your hands often with soap and water for 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom or before eating. If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.
- Avoid touching your face — especially your eyes, nose and mouth — with unwashed hands.
- Stay home if you have cold- or flu-like symptoms, for seven days after your illness onset and three days after your fever resolves without fever reducing medicine (whichever is longer), and avoid close contact with people who are sick.
- Up-to-date guidance from the Department of Health on recommended community mitigation strategies can be found here.
