Former U.S. Surgeon General: Coronavirus response is 'nowhere near where it needs to be'
Dr. Vivek Murthy, former U.S. surgeon general under the Obama administration, expressed some frustration with the U.S. response to the coronavirus.
“Unfortunately, we were a bit late to recognize how bad this was as a country,” Murthy said on Yahoo Finance’s The Ticker. “We have been late, also, when it comes to ramping up testing, which we desperately need. And we’re also still having trouble getting the materials, particularly the protective equipment that health care providers need. We’re making progress over the last month, but it’s unfortunately nowhere near where it needs to be if we want to feel safe to relax social distancing restrictions.”
Initially, President Trump dismissed the threat of the pandemic, telling reporters in a news conference on February 27 that the virus was “going to disappear.” By March 4, he acknowledged the issue in the U.S. but said that some people would have it “at a very light level” without needing to see a doctor or hospital, and eventually get better. Then on March 17, he said: “I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.”
These mixed signals have caused confusion for many states, with some governors implementing strict shelter-at-home orders, while others have been more lenient. Two-thirds of Americans believe the Trump administration’s response was too slow.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/coronavirus-former-us-surgeon-general-152603785.html
