An Unmitigated Disaster
An Unmitigated DisasterAmerica’s Response to COVID-19Robert O. Schneider
Copyright © 2022 by Robert O. SchneiderAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored ina retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusionof brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from thepublisher.Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataNames: Schneider, Robert O., author.Title: An unmitigated disaster : America’s response to COVID-19 / RobertO. Schneider.Description: Santa Barbara, California : Praeger, [2022] | Includesbibliographical references and index.Identifiers: LCCN 2021023960 (print) | LCCN 2021023961 (ebook) | ISBN9781440878930 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781440878947 (ebook)Subjects: LCSH: COVID-19 (Disease)—Political aspects—United States. |COVID-19 (Disease)—Social aspects—United States.Classification: LCC RA644.C67 S36 2022 (print) | LCC RA644.C67(ebook) | DDC 362.1962/414—dc23LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021023960LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021023961ISBN: 978-1-4408-7893-0 (print)978-1-4408-7894-7 (ebook)26 25 24 23 221 2 3 4 5This book is also available as an eBook.PraegerAn Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLCABC-CLIO, LLC147 Castilian DriveSanta Barbara, California 93117www.abc-clio.comThis book is printed on acid-free paper Manufactured in the United States of America
ContentsPrologueChapter 1COVID-19 Makes “It” RealChapter 2Preparing for a Pandemic: Were We Ready?Chapter 3Politics, Science, and Partisan WarfareChapter 4The End of Wondering: The First Wave Hits the UnitedStatesChapter 5The Great Reopening: Fools Rush InChapter 6Failure Persists: The Dark Winter ApproachesChapter 7The Darkest DaysNotesIndex
PrologueDr. George Diaz, an infectious diseases physician in Seattle, received aphone call from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) onthe afternoon of January 20, 2020. The CDC informed him that it had justrecorded a positive test for a new strain of coronavirus in a thirty-five-year-old man who had recently returned to Washington State from Wuhan,China. The CDC also informed Dr. Diaz that it wanted to bring the patientto his hospital for treatment.Dr. Diaz was in all probability not surprised with this news. He knewabout the new coronavirus that had emerged in China and begun to circlethe globe. He had to know this new virus would soon make its way to theUnited States. In fact, just two weeks previously, he and his hospital(Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, just outside of Seattle) hadstaged a tabletop drill that ran through the steps to be taken in caring for apatient with this new coronavirus. One would thus be correct in suspectingthat the news just received from the CDC was not at all unexpected by Dr.Diaz or the hospital.1Upon arrival at Pr...
