"It did not have to happen this way. Though not perfectly prepared, the United States had more expertise, resources, plans and epidemiological experience than dozens of countries that ultimately fared far better in fending off the virus." https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2020/04/04/coronavirus-government-dysfunction/?p9w22b2p=b2p22p9w00098&no_nav=true&tid=a_classic-iphone

“It took 70 days for Trump to treat the coronavirus not as a distant threat or harmless flu strain well under control, but as a lethal force that was poised to kill tens of thousands of citizens. That more-than-two-month stretch now stands as critical time that was squandered.”

"Trump’s baseless assertions in those weeks, including his claim that it would all just “miraculously” go away, sowed significant public confusion and contradicted the urgent messages of public health experts."

"The most consequential failure involved a breakdown in efforts to develop a diagnostic test that could be mass produced and distributed across the United States, enabling agencies to map early outbreaks of the disease, and impose quarantine measure to contain them."

One day we will need a commission like the one after 9/11 to investigate the failures that made America's #CoronavirusCrisis much worse. Until there is one, this investigation by the @washingtonpost is an authoritative assessment that all Americans should read.

Outstanding reporting by @yabutaleb7 @jdawsey1 @nakashimae and @gregpmiller.