COVID Update July 24: There’s an important ingredient we are short of in combatting Coronavirus.

The rest of the world has more of it. We need to find it to beat the virus. The ingredient is trust. 1/

Why is trust so important?

Because with a novel virus we will need to use novel treatments, vaccines & interventions & rely on one another complying with public instructions.

We need a federal government & reliable unbiased health care institutions to get us through. 2/

Without trust, many of the vital elements of combatting Coronavirus fall apart.
-Is this vaccine safe?
-Is this therapy real?
-Masks or no masks?
-Is it over? A hoax? Not?
-Should I get a test or are we over testing?
-Should I tell you who I’m in contact with? 3/

Other countries are demonstrating that with trust & cohesion, deaths can be brought down to single digits & new cases are minimal & sparodic.

It takes a consistent message & trusted compassionate voices. 4/

Nature & science are giving us all the tools we need to defeat Coronavirus. -Masks which contain our own & infected neighbors’ breath
-The ability to not crowd people

More established tools
-Contact tracing
-Testing
-Vaccines

5/

In the US, whatever trust in government existed the president has been destroying over & over. 6/

When Trump calls out the CDC for the school guidelines they release being too stringent and they then put forward a release telling parents to send their kids to school, does that increase trust? 7/

When the FDA approves drugs the president pushes that haven’t produced enough data, or tests that don’t work, or antibody tests that are worse than a coin flip, does that increase trust?

8/

The FDA is who we SHOULD be listening to when a vaccine comes out.

The CDC is who we SHOULD be listening to when recommendations over school attendance comes out.

9/

So if a vaccine is released in October before the election, with some but not all data from Phase 3, should we listen & take it?

I explored this with 2 great experts including a formal FDA head here. 10/ http://Smarturl.it/inthebubble 

When the president decides to sue to eliminate the ACA in the middle of a pandemic, and coverage for 23 million people & pre-existing protections from everybody, what kind of trust does that engender?

11/

When the task force is stopped in May & the country reopens & there is no focus save to criticize Anthony Fauci for 2 months what kind of trust is created? 12/

When the president says we have enough tests & everyone sees that we don’t, is trust built or eroded? 13/

It was suggested to me that I should praise Trump for not holding an in person convention in Jacksonville. For wearing a mask inside a hospital. 14/

America, let’s not treat Trump like a domestic abuser, grateful for those days when he doesn’t make our lives worse. 15/

It would take a really skewed view of the world to thank him for not CREATING a new cluster of cases. 16/

My line in the sand is simple. I don’t think I could trust anyone who values their job over my mom’s life. Or your mom’s. Or yours. Or mine.

17/

Trust me?

First attend funerals. Cry with us. See the ICUs, the torn up towns. Put the flag at half staff. Stop lying. Let the scientists lead.

And this. Offer not to run again unless you fix the crisis. 18/

You’ve done what you’ve come to do.

You have indeed eroded trust in some of our great institutions. You have corrupted them the way you made a political party complicit. 19/

There are people who don’t trust you & will call you out. @LarryHogan @MittRomney

And then there are all thiose who will say they didn’t trust you after you’ve left the scene. @marcorubio 20/

It only matters right now, Marco. We need leaders willing to do the simple job of trying. The simple job of leveling with us. Who won’t define themselves & the country based on division. Who won’t talk to us when the stock market or polls are down & ignore us otherwise. 21/

The fact that I am asked “who should I trust?” so often means that even with a great vaccine, the chances of public action are low.

Listen to @larrybrilliant talk about what has happened at CDC & FDA.

http://Smarturl.it/inthebubble  22/

We can fix the supply chain for swabs & reagents. We can invent better tests, therapies & working vaccines.

But we can’t mobilize when we need to because our supply of trust has been hijacked. 23/

The institutions we rely (FDA, CDC, the FDA, Justice Dept) have been sufficiently undermined, called names & diminished.

Many good people in there are trapped, wait it out or quit. They await the opportunity to recapture what is lost. I know it. 24/

Americans throughout history have rallied in trying times. And that’s why many are puzzled that it’s not happening now— while most of the world is.

We can’t get there from here when what has been squandered can be regained. /end

By the way, there are people to trust on various topics. Have found some of them.

https://twitter.com/aslavitt/status/1286780275008122882?s=21 https://twitter.com/aslavitt/status/1286780275008122882