Covid-19 Tearing Through Nation and Government

FEATURING LAWRENCE O. GOSTIN – The Trump administration’s approach to the Covid-19 pandemic has finally played out in the highest levels of government as the White House becomes a hot spot and a Rose Garden event more than a week ago identified as a likely super-spreader event. The White House’s reliance on rapid but inaccurate daily testing as a means of protection from the disease has been proven ineffective. It may seem shocking to those outside the U.S. that government officials refused to protect themselves with the type of social distancing and mask wearing that is known to curb the spread of the deadly disease.

Just as White House staffers succumb one after another to Covid-19, cases of infection nationwide continue to rise precipitously. As the winter weather approaches, cases are expected to rise even faster as people congregate in groups indoors. The twin scourge of the seasonal flu and the novel coronavirus could be yet another disaster in the making.

Lawrence O. Gostin is a University Professor, Georgetown University where he directs the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law. He is also the Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law where he has served in numerous high-level capacities. He also co-chairs the Lancet Commission on Global Health Law and served on two global commissions to report on the lessons learned from the 2015 West Africa Ebola epidemic.