Step up to virus challenge
Specialist Dilip Patel, left, works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 7.8%, its steepest drop since the financial crisis of 2008, as a free-fall in oil prices and worsening fears of fallout from the spreading coronavirus outbreak seize markets. Credit: AP/Richard Drew
The growing anxiety over the coronavirus was inevitable.
All along, health and infectious disease experts expected the number of cases to rise, and they have — around the world, across the United States, here in New York. Updates arrive every few hours. And each new report seems to bring new evidence that the virus is creeping closer, each of us able to plot more clearly a path where it lands on our own doorstep. Even as figures are reported — driven by testing that was alarmingly lacking for weeks, leaving government incapable of containing the virus and forcing it instead to focus now on mitigating the virus’ risks — uncertainty swells because of questions not yet answered. Where will this lead? How will our health care system respond? How bad will it get?
New depths were plumbed Monday as the bottom fell out of stock markets worldwide, investors rattled by coronavirus fears and a clash between energy giants Saudi Arabia and Russia that led to a plunge in oil prices. U.S. health officials warned travelers at risk — like the elderly and those with underlying respiratory conditions — not to get on cruise ships or make long plane trips. Local school districts and institutions of higher learning announced more closures. And neither a vaccine nor a cure is on the horizon.
Fear breeds in this kind of petri dish. That’s predictable. That doesn’t mean we have to give into it.
But resistance is more likely when our leaders pave the way. In a global crisis like this, that’s especially true of a president. And President Donald Trump’s first step in confronting the coronavirus was good, when he banned most foreign nationals who had recently traveled to China from entering the country. It has been downhill since.
Instead of assurances based on facts, Americans often have received platitudes based on fiction. Instead of information presented consistently by all members of the administration, they got different takes by different speakers. Trump says one thing, scientists and health experts say another. Information that is incorrect, inconsistent or incomplete leads to confusion, which leads to poor personal decisions and scapegoating.
At times like this, America needs its leaders to level honestly with the nation, neither sugarcoating bad news nor hyping legitimate progress, and to accept responsibility for the government’s response. We understand that this is a crisis and that not everything will go smoothly. But that’s no excuse for a severe shortage of test kits, faulty testing protocols and a lack of clear directives to hospitals, employers and local governments. One positive step Monday: Trump’s promise to work with Congress to help individuals and businesses hurt financially by the virus.
Some federal officials have admirably filled the leadership gap, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, who leads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and has been responsible and responsive. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has ably guided New York during the crisis.
We all have a part to play by following good advice: wash your hands, cover your cough, see a doctor if you’re sick, stay home and don’t expose others. And keep a calm head. The president needs to step up to the challenge.
— The editorial board
