COVID update: I know everyone feels like we’re in neutral, or worse, reverse.

I’ve been in conversations w cities & states & schools. It’s clear we need to adopt a new mentality & change some assumptions to unstick. 1/

1. One big question people feel stuck on is school. How to do right by kids, parents & teachers.

People are wrestling with should they open schools & the best way to open them. 2/

Too many people are stuck in one assumption: that school opens on a soecific day in August right after they go to Office Depot to buy notebooks. 3/

But the day school opens matters less than how many days it remains open & how many students it safely & successfully serves.

It’s obvious to me at least that no one knows whether schools are safe. I mean the building codes. I mean the teachers. I mean sick parents.4/

But we are learning fast. Our knowledge is increasing every day from schools around the world. Some suggest caution. Some suggest certain ages are safe.

But what we need to look for is HOW. 5/

And if opening school in say November gives us enough time, or December, or January, seriously...better to do it right than fast & go back home (until November or December or January).6/

Who made up the Fall calendar? We did. Who can change it? We can. Will our kids fall behind the Chinese? They already are.

Local & equity issues should be considered strongly. Listen to @arneduncan for more. 7/ http://Smarturl.it/inthebubble 

2. Masks. Big controversy around whether a mask mandate is enforceable. “Andy, can you really see the police arresting someone?” I get asked. Brian Kemp finds it an affront to our way of life but his fallback is it’s not “enforceable.” 8/

As an aside, if someone tells me they are interested in maintaining their “way of life,” color me suspicious that what they want is someone who will smile politely & move over when they walk by & someone else who will make sure dinner is on the table. 9/ https://twitter.com/aslavitt/status/1284592150345388033

Here’s how you make mask wearing enforceable. Have store owners, peace officers, medics, government officials & volunteers walk around & issue something to people not wearing a mask: a mask.

Help them fit it. Show them how to wear it. Thank them for doing their part. 10/

3. People complain about masks making them sweaty, being tough to breathe through & of course, they are 1-way, protecting the community but not the wearer. This makes for less of an incentive to wear a mask. 11/

Here, again we are stuck in our current way of thinking. Masks are being designed today that are washable, more breathesble, better fitting, 2 way & N95 quality.

In other words you’re walking around with an iPhone 1 on your face. 12/

Now we need to invoke the Defense Production Act & rapidly approve these designs & increase production. @SenSanders and I called for this yesterday. Listen to Bernie here: http://smarturl.it/inthebubble  13/ https://twitter.com/CNNOpinion/status/1284083513587728384

4. Planning for months vs planning for years.

We need PPE now. We need tests now. We also will need them in a year. Congress & states are focused on immediate relief. The president sees little beyond what works for him.

We’re spending trillions but investing almost nothing.14/

We. Are. Going. To. Be. At. This. A. Long. Time.

Start more manufacturing. Procure more raw material. Solicit more designs. Increase training.

Tests. PPE. Medication. Supplies. 15/

5. Bars (& restaurants) need to close their indoor space temporarily. They are significant hot spots.

We should give income protection to wage earners (including tips) and allow bars & restaurants to repurpose. 16/

Instead of just giving them PPP loans, we should grant forgivable loans to allow bars & restaurants to transform into food delivery hubs & get meals to 40 million people going without. 17/

Just as @chefjoseandres pioneered. Listen to how. http://Smarturl.it/inthebubble 

5. We need to do something to address evictions & defaults.

Here’s the simple answer. Don’t allow them. House everybody. People already houses keep them housed.

We can bail out banks. And airlines. Time to take this off the table.18/

6. We can’t test enough. We run huge backlogs. Sadly if this were addressed nationally several months ago, we wouldn’t be in this position.

But we must do it now. 19/

The FDA embarrassed itself with the Abbott test which didn’t work. And now they have gone the other direction & are approving very little.

We need a 3-pronged national strategy. And accountability to get it done. 20/

1- Dedicated test for ppl to symptoms
2- Pooled & sewage testing for asymptomatic
3- Rapid saliva test for schools & building entry

Prioritize & build. All can be scaled.21/ https://twitter.com/ASlavitt/status/1284566843194257409

7. We are leaders & we are special. This is hampering us.

Look America, let’s pull aside for a conversation...

I know. I know we think we’re special. Manifest Destiny. The remaining Superpower. Spreading freedom. Home to Silicon Valley. Savior of the world in world wars. 22/

It’s a great image we have of ourselves. Go to the moon? Us first. Go to Mars? Us first.

Right now we can’t even go to Canada. 23/

So, let’s swallow some pride. And just check in on what some other countries are doing. I know. We’re “great” again. But see...we’re not exactly hitting it out of the park.

We are with countries like Brazil that have massive slums & aren’t even making an effort.24/

So what do you say we ask around the neighborhood & learn from what they’re doing. China would have sent us masks. Many countries have excess tests. (They don’t need them.)

But see to do this, there’s a catch: we have to stop behaving like giant asses. 25/

NATO, the UN, the WHO, we look down on & badmouth them.

OK we don’t. Trump does. 26/

Of course all of this takes humility.

I mean following , , , , , , , , , ,

I mean us following all these funny looking flag? I mean the Red, White & Blue. Us. We lead. 27/

But where do our scientists actually come from? Where do our innovators come from?

Yeah, we at one point thought of ourselves as an amalgamation of the best ideas. A melting pot of ideas. 27/

But we were also a more accepting country. A forgiving country. A welcoming country.

But we’re a country that leaves people on their own. We pass emergency bills. We take care if you in the ER. But investing in your health or in social services or public health, no. 28/

If Coronavirus doesn’t tell us it’s time to change some things, to question some things, to make things better, to do things better, to rewrite the rules, than our time as an Empire is drawing to a close. 29/

Sometimes I want to blame it all on a bad president. But other times I remember all the things we did before then. All the things we did to elect him. All the ways of cooking voting rights. And some of the spirit of the country we lost. 30/

Facing the truth makes me feel better. It makes me feel a little closer to understanding how much we need to really change.

We have got to take our country back. Not just the presidency. But our decency, our humility, our integrity & our ability to do hard things again. /end