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AMERICA’S COVID ‘FAILURES’ LED TO ‘EYE-WATERINGLY’ HIGH DEATH RATES: BRITISH
MEDICAL JOURNAL

By Melissa Koenig

Published Jan. 31, 2024
Updated Feb. 6, 2024, 1:32 p.m. ET

America’s “failures” during the COVID pandemic led the country to experience
“eye-wateringly high” death rates compared to other first-world nations,
according to a damning editorial in a medical journal — which also criticized
school closures.

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Duke University professor Gavin Yamey and Drexel University professor Ana Roux
said the pandemic “failures began at the top” with poor communication from the
federal government, which demonstrated a “surprising inability to generate
reliable information, communicate it in a timely and consistent manner and
translate it into sound policy.”

“The absence of timely evidence and delayed or incomplete communication of what
was known also led to overreach, which itself had harmful consequences,” the
researchers wrote in the British Medical Journal, blaming the US’s division of
state and federal government, which they said meant that Americans’ experience
with the pandemic “depended on zip code.”

The experts also cited mistakes such as keeping schools closed for a longer
period of time than necessary.

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“The absence of timely evidence and delayed or incomplete communication of what
was known also led to over-reach, which itself had harmful consequences,” the
editorial, titled “Pandemic lessons for the 2024 US presidential election,”
said.

“For example, even after studies had shown that fomite transmission was rare and
transmission outdoors was much less common than indoors, some municipalities and
states kept parks, playgrounds, and beaches closed,” it continued.

“Even after research had shown that schools could be reopened safely with basic
public health measures, too many jurisdictions kept teaching online only.”

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3
America’s “failures” during the COVID pandemic “began at the top” with poor
communication from the federal government compounded by state overreach, the
British Medical Journal found. AFP via Getty Images


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In some Democrat-run states, schools were closed even after research showed that
they could reopen safely with the proper public health measures in place, like
improved ventilation.

As a result, children missed out on learning and socialization — as well as the
ability to gain natural immunity to other viruses by interacting with their
peers.

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Some liberal states also kept parks, playgrounds and beaches closed despite
scientific research showing COVID was unlikely to spread outdoors or on surfaces
— forcing people to remain indoors with little to no human interaction.

In the aftermath, the US has experienced record high levels of obesity and
diabetes, as well as increases in high blood pressure and cholesterol, a Gallup
poll that surveyed more than 5,000 adults in all 50 states found.

When Americans were let outside during the pandemic, they were often required to
wear masks.

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3
The US kept schools closed for a longer period of time than necessary. Getty
Images

The guidance was finally dropped in April 2021, when the Centers for Disease
Control acknowledged mounting evidence that outdoor transmission of COVID is
exceedingly rare, and accounts for less than 10% of cases.

The authors also highlighted some of the nation’s pre-existing healthcare
inequalities — including gaps in healthcare coverage and accessibility, the lack
of certain social programs available in other countries and workplace
protection.

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Social inequalities and systemic racism made the pandemic worse for Americans,
they argued.

Additionally, they said, “hollowed-out state and local health departments were
poorly equipped to step into the breach” left by the Trump administration
“bungling the federal response.”

Between 2010 and 2019, the federal government slashed the CDC’s budget and
funding for public health emergency preparedness, and per-capita spending on
state public health departments fell by 16% and for local health departments by
18%.

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3
When Americans were let outside during the pandemic, they were often required to
wear masks. Getty Images

As a result of these factors, the US “stood out” among first-world nations.

“United States saw ‘eye wateringly high’ death rates compared with its peer
nations. The 1.16 million Americans killed by covid-19 represent 16% of global
deaths in a nation with 4% of the world’s population,” the editorial said.

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“One in three Americans knows someone who died from covid-19, about 300,000
children are estimated to have lost one or both parents, and there is a
substantial burden of long covid.”

What do you think? Post a comment.

Yamey and Roux are calling for the country to implement systemic reforms “that
we believe should be central to the manifestos of the 2024 US presidential
candidates.”

“The aim of the series is not to assign blame — there is plenty to go around —
but to look to the future and lay out the critical steps to transform US public
health and preparedness, and improve population health more broadly,” they
write.


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