How the American Government Failed Its People
(Photo Source: Win McNamee of Getty Images)
May 7, 2020
On January 20, 2020, the first case of COVID-19 in the United States was confirmed in the state of Washington. At the time, the government conveyed few worries for the lone case, and Trump even claimed that the United States had the situation “totally under control” in an interview with CNBC. So how did one case rapidly progress into over one million in a period of two months?
The answer: incompetent leaders completely ignorant of our needs and a gross lack of communication, as well as bias within the government when deciding who would and would not receive proper resources.
Politicizing a Pandemic
When the United States became aware of the first case of the coronavirus, politicians assured the nation that the government had the situation under control and would contain the virus quickly. President Trump himself expressed little concern over the virus and stated that the government was “ready for” COVID-19 and was “really prepared.”
But in the four month period since the United States confirmed its first coronavirus case, the nation’s hospitals and medical centers have struggled with a lack of resources and supplies to properly protect the medical staff and care for the patients.
On April 2, Trump tweeted, “Massive amounts of medical supplies, even hospitals and medical centers, are being delivered directly to states and hospitals by the Federal Government. Some have insatiable appetites [and] are never satisfied (politics?). The complainers should have been stocked up and ready long before this crisis hit.”
However, hospitals are not to blame for the lack of supplies. Due to the immense amount of miscommunication between states and the federal government, medical centers were unable to properly prepare for the massive influx of coronavirus patients admitted. And while states beg for aid and relief, the federal government is bidding against them for medical supplies to add to their stockpile, thus creating a constant strain for hospitals and medical workers in dangerous environments.
It is also likely that, as Trump has claimed, politics are controlling which states are receiving supplies and which are not. However, it’s not a matter of party disagreements, but rather discrimination against states that have openly disagreed with the Trump Administration and are in desperate need of supplies.
On March 11, Florida requested 180,000 N95 medical masks for its hospitals and medical care workers. Three days later, it received all of the supplies it requested. By that point, the state only had 115 confirmed cases of COVID-19. New York requested N95 masks a few days later, but received the same amount as Florida. At that point, New York had over 500 confirmed cases.
It is important to note that both states had similar responses to the virus, such as closing nonessential businesses and ordering its citizens to stay at home indefinitely. However, while New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo pushed several executive orders days before Florida, the southern state still received the same amount of medical supplies days before New York did.
While Cuomo has been criticizing the federal government and Trump’s response to the pandemic, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida has praised Trump numerous times. Florida is also considered a “red state,” in which a majority of its residents are registered as Republicans and tend to vote as such during elections, while New York is a “blue state” with millions of its residents registered as Democrats. As a Republican himself, Trump seems to be protecting his own and ignoring those who truly are in need of help.
Trump’s blatant partiality has caused other states to scramble for supplies, such as Massachusetts. On April 2, despite having nearly 9,000 confirmed cases, the state still lacked the necessary amount of equipment and had to rely on private citizens to provide PPEs for hospitals. The New England Patriots’ CEO Bob Kraft, for instance, transported and donated 1.7 million N95 masks from China to Massachusetts and New York.
Lack of Testing
While touring the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on March 6, Trump said, “Anyone that wants a test can get a test.” However, it is difficult for most Americans to be tested for the virus. Even if a person shows some symptoms of the virus or wishes to be tested due to fear of exposure, many people are turned away. People must meet with their primary health care providers or clinicians to evaluate their symptoms before being considered for a test. Then, if they meet all of the criteria for COVID-19 testing, such as a fever, coughing, and difficulty of breathing, they can request an appointment to be tested.
Since the first confirmed case, there have been over four million tests given to Americans. However, according to an estimate by researchers at Harvard University, the United States needs to conduct 20 million tests per day in order for the nation to completely reopen. While Trump has also claimed numerous times that there are many testing sites and kits available to the public, it seems that testing is widely unavailable for people. In Massachusetts, there are over 75 testing sites for people to go to, but all locations require appointments. Given the size of Massachusetts, with 351 towns and cities, it seems that it will be nearly impossible for every resident of Massachusetts to be tested. Families that are unable to go to doctors’ offices or travel to other towns or cities through public transportation cannot be tested, thus putting them and those around them at risk of infection.
Prioritizing Wealth Over Welfare
While it is important to ensure that the economy does not suffer due to the pandemic, it is more important to protect the people who participate in it. Nevertheless, in several instances, the government seemed to prioritize the economy over the livelihood of the American people through legislative acts and stimulus bills.
The Small Business Administration, a federal agency that provides support and loans to businesses and entrepreneurs, is currently providing loans for small businesses through the Paycheck Protection Program. The program is a part of the $350 billion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and is designed to prevent businesses from ceasing trading.
While the bill sounds promising in theory, numerous businesses are losing out on the opportunity to receive a loan that would provide eight weeks of money that could ensure wages for workers, payments for rent, and financial security. In fact, several large companies, which have hundreds of workers and have market caps that are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, have received loans meant for small businesses. Although some companies like Shake Shack, Potbelly, and Sweetgreen have stated that they will return their loans, others, like the Fiesta Restaurant Group, which has over ten thousand employees, have prevented local businesses from receiving relief funds.
It is appalling that large companies are controlling who receives funds and who does not, and even more so that the government is providing aid to such businesses. It should be the government’s duty to reserve and protect all Americans’ rights to participate in the economy and not be cut out by larger, more prominent businesses. Yet the nauseating lack of communication between the government and Americans has made it seem that ordinary people are no longer important for the economy.
In light of the pandemic, it is clear that the United States government has failed its people. Because of the federal government’s lack of preparedness for the pandemic, states and hospitals have been pitted against one another to receive essential medical supplies in order to help save the lives of the thousands of coronavirus patients. However, by politicizing a pandemic that has claimed thousands of lives, people are forced to suffer from the government’s actions. Compared to other nations and their response to the virus, the lack of testing kits has caused the United States to have the highest number of cases in the world.
The government must do better for its people, or else we’ll all suffer the consequences of their actions.
For further information about the potential discrimination against states by the federal government, here are some resources describing the actions taken by Florida and New York:
https://abcnews.go.com/US/timeline-cuomos-trumps-responses-coronavirus-outbreak/story?id=69914641
https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2020/03/20/timeline-the-spread-of-coronavirus-in-florida/