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President Barack Obama's former administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Andy Slavitt, took to Twitter in an epic thread describing how we could end the virus at any time.
The thread, which detailed the steps every other developed nation has already taken, quickly went viral.
We can be back to a reasonably normal existence: schools, travel, job growth, safer nursing homes & other settings.… https://t.co/CF5KEJlmcy— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@Andy Slavitt @ 🏡) 1595804689.0
Slavitt described how countless other countries have managed to control the virus while the United States has settled for inadequate measures.
Take New Zealand. With its fancy curve and life back to normal. Why can’t we? 3/ https://t.co/RasrygZl44— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@Andy Slavitt @ 🏡) 1595804691.0
Not fair you say. It’s an island nation. OK. What about Germany? Not an island nation, large, growing diversity. 4/ https://t.co/kyp1Nj7pqv— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@Andy Slavitt @ 🏡) 1595804692.0
In fact pick virtually any country you want. 6/ https://t.co/7n784GcDyC— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@Andy Slavitt @ 🏡) 1595804694.0
America's refusal to grasp the danger of its situation has resulted in countless avoidable deaths.
But don’t tell me the U.S. can’t take action if we want to. And we can’t face the families of 150,000 people who d… https://t.co/adYtaEcBg5— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@Andy Slavitt @ 🏡) 1595804696.0
The good news— and it is good news— is we are always 4-6 weeks from being able to do what countries around the world have done.8/— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@Andy Slavitt @ 🏡) 1595804696.0
Slavitt then detailed exactly what the United States should be doing.
Let’s say we threw the kitchen sink at COVID-19 in the U.S. Let’s say we started now with the goal of being open fo… https://t.co/zDyils4Yql— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@Andy Slavitt @ 🏡) 1595804696.0
So let’s define the kitchen sink: 1. start with universal mask wearing. We didn’t do this in Mar-April and let’s ch… https://t.co/WWOlqaiOLN— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@Andy Slavitt @ 🏡) 1595804697.0
4. Prohibit travel into the country (no one will let us into their country so that shouldn’t be hard). 5. Have hote… https://t.co/funCJPYH1z— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@Andy Slavitt @ 🏡) 1595804697.0
Now more than ever, America should be acting decisively.
The process of defeating the pandemic may not be easy, but people's total hardship would be lessened over time.
That means the economy would take a several week hit. And we would need extended unemployment insurance. 13/— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@Andy Slavitt @ 🏡) 1595804697.0
We could even create friend & family bubbles. The NBA has been in a bubble for 3 weeks & starting with 10% positive… https://t.co/6fVeJDCrWk— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@Andy Slavitt @ 🏡) 1595804699.0
The results of Slavitt's plan would be profound.
So what would happen? At first, absolutely nothing. Cases would still grow from the prior weeks & the incubation… https://t.co/KbOAQPX2Nn— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@Andy Slavitt @ 🏡) 1595804699.0
Of course, Slavitt also knew how many conservative Americans would react to these necessary steps.
“America has become a fascist government” “We need to liberate” “We’ve been doing this & nothing’s happening” “More… https://t.co/qbBPzSPYuy— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@Andy Slavitt @ 🏡) 1595804699.0
(By the way, welcome to all the new people who suddenly care so much about public education, mental health & access… https://t.co/crAfftUvfm— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@Andy Slavitt @ 🏡) 1595804699.0
But the ire of overreacting citizens would be worth it.
After a few weeks, what would happen is what happened in other countries. In many countries, the R dropped to .3. L… https://t.co/RKp5KTzO5b— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@Andy Slavitt @ 🏡) 1595804700.0
How does that work? Some of the fancy people call this “exponential decay.” I call it #Zachsmath. Explained here.… https://t.co/mF0xEsZfuO— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@Andy Slavitt @ 🏡) 1595804701.0
So after 8 weeks, you don’t have 0 cases but you have embers. A small enough number that someone in the health de… https://t.co/Lxp0ZiUrUo— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@Andy Slavitt @ 🏡) 1595804701.0
Within a matter of weeks, the pandemic would be effectively ended in the United States.
Then what? You know how we don’t have enough tests? We would have plenty. Plenty to test everyone going into work,… https://t.co/B5cgQtvnjI— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@Andy Slavitt @ 🏡) 1595804702.0
Becsuse we would get the tests back the same day, we could very easily let everybody who had been around Earl the l… https://t.co/wV1HTTMlEA— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@Andy Slavitt @ 🏡) 1595804702.0
America would then face an abundance of the many supplies it's struggled to find for months.
All the PPE we keep running out of? We would have way too much. Ventilators? Way too many. People who have suffere… https://t.co/HVfF0i9oNy— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@Andy Slavitt @ 🏡) 1595804703.0
The man who cured small pox & is the greatest expert I know, @larrybrilliant, puts it this way: 26/ https://t.co/LeguVa7ySP— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@Andy Slavitt @ 🏡) 1595805085.0
Would we be done at this point? Sadly not. Outbreaks can happen if you’re not paying attention. But before you get… https://t.co/DVUSHCoE2x— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@Andy Slavitt @ 🏡) 1595805090.0
Of course, America would still need to be vigilant, but the worst would be behind us.
Whether we do this or not, let’s not pretend this isn’t an option. This is done mostly with the things we were bor… https://t.co/lBOKBn9S3N— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@Andy Slavitt @ 🏡) 1595805091.0
And while we do this, what else happens? Well our nurses & doctors can catch their breath, recover & go back to hea… https://t.co/TdTbud3U55— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@Andy Slavitt @ 🏡) 1595805091.0
We still take precautions. Masks in larger settings. In elevators. Around sick people. Because we care. It will ta… https://t.co/M6gEf2HEjw— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@Andy Slavitt @ 🏡) 1595805092.0
What would a responsible country look like moving forward?
Communities would have green, yellow, orange & red days so we would know how to take precautions. Both before and a… https://t.co/aGkI1V2knn— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@Andy Slavitt @ 🏡) 1595805092.0
The cost of this has been & continues to be 6-8 weeks of your life. This would disrupt the rest of your summer. Bu… https://t.co/730yOS9Bnr— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@Andy Slavitt @ 🏡) 1595805092.0
Does a vaccine make this unnecessary? Unless it’s a 100% effective & everyone takes it, no. But that may be the w… https://t.co/mXLxzpY403— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@Andy Slavitt @ 🏡) 1595805092.0
Slavitt concluded his thread by saying the major barrier keeping us from an effective pandemic response was leadership.
We will do this. There is no other way. The question is when. The question is who will convince us. The question is… https://t.co/9fbXzU2t6H— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@Andy Slavitt @ 🏡) 1595805094.0
As Slavitt wrote to begin his thread, the United States could end the pandemic whenever it likes.