Dale Wyngarden: Our future is uncertain unless we find common ground
Dale Wyngarden
After 34 million cases, many with lingering health consequences, and after 600,000 deaths, we are glimpsing light at the end of the pandemic tunnel. Masks are being tossed aside as we head for restaurants and scarf up tickets to concerts and sporting events. The past 15 months have been an inconvenient journey for some, but a tragic one for many others.
It didn t have to be so bad. Anyone who doubts how miserably we failed in our response need only Google “Coronavirus Worldometer” to see how shamefully far we lead the world in both infections and deaths. National leadership wiggled from denial to minimization. Health professionals were marginalized as politicians instead claimed the podium. Instead of a cohesive national policy we let fifty governors define and enforce 50 policies.