[terry]

Again, leadership means taking an unpopular position, and convincing others that the danger is real and to take it seriously, not waiting until others have come to that conclusion on their own volition. . . .

There is a lot he could have done differently, starting with at the very least not impeding the public taking the virus seriously by constantly minimizing and dismissing its threat.

There is a ton he could have done back in February to prepare the nation:

1) which is obvious to anyone: prepare the national stockpile; start getting large quantities of PPE.  Work with 3M and other PPE makers and tell them we want to be prepared if the virus comes to the US, so ramp up PPE production; we will buy any excess off you.
2) Develop social distancing guidelines so states aren't guessing blind.  Let states know what they can do and when.  Socialize the idea that we're going to have to make changes to our daily life, so that it is easier for state and local officials to announce shutdowns (especially in red states).
3) Pushing for the CDC and FDA to get their acts together on testing (Azar as head of HHS, which oversees both agencies, should have been fired over this)
4) Requesting funding from congress (see Chris Murphy's tweet Feb 21)
5) Working with state and local officials to cancel large gatherings early.  If Ireland could cancel St. Patrick's Day celebrations, New Orleans could have cancelled Mardi Gras.

Even if he didn't do anything else, just "not impeding" progress to understanding the threat of COVID-19 in the US would have been progress.

Great points!

[terry]

Again, leadership means taking an unpopular position, and convincing others that the danger is real and to take it seriously, not waiting until others have come to that conclusion on their own volition. . . .

There is a lot he could have done differently, starting with at the very least not impeding the public taking the virus seriously by constantly minimizing and dismissing its threat.

There is a ton he could have done back in February to prepare the nation:

1) which is obvious to anyone: prepare the national stockpile; start getting large quantities of PPE.  Work with 3M and other PPE makers and tell them we want to be prepared if the virus comes to the US, so ramp up PPE production; we will buy any excess off you.
2) Develop social distancing guidelines so states aren't guessing blind.  Let states know what they can do and when.  Socialize the idea that we're going to have to make changes to our daily life, so that it is easier for state and local officials to announce shutdowns (especially in red states).
3) Pushing for the CDC and FDA to get their acts together on testing (Azar as head of HHS, which oversees both agencies, should have been fired over this)
4) Requesting funding from congress (see Chris Murphy's tweet Feb 21)
5) Working with state and local officials to cancel large gatherings early.  If Ireland could cancel St. Patrick's Day celebrations, New Orleans could have cancelled Mardi Gras.

Even if he didn't do anything else, just "not impeding" progress to understanding the threat of COVID-19 in the US would have been progress.

Great points!