It's been two months since the country first locked down in an attempt to "flatten the coronavirus/COVID-19 curve."
Current confirmed cases in the United States exceed one million.
Over 87 thousand Americans have died.
We still do not have the capacity for widespread testing.
There is no vaccine in sight.
Even though some states are hiring contact tracers, top scientists this week expressed concerns over antibody test availability and reliability.
Dr. Rick Bright, former head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), fired after filing a whistleblower complaint when he opposed Donald Trump's baseless claim about a possible coronavirus cure, asserted before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce's health subcommittee this week:
"Our window of opportunity is closing. If we fail to develop a national coordinated response, based in science, I fear the pandemic will get far worse and be prolonged, causing unprecedented illness and fatalities. Without clear planning and implementation of the steps that I and other experts have outlined, 2020 will be darkest winter in modern history."
World Health Organization emergencies expert Mike Ryan argued this week in Geneva:
"It is important to put this on the table: this virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities, and this virus may never go away. I think it is important we are realistic and I don't think anyone can predict when this disease will disappear. I think there are no promises in this and there are no dates. This disease may settle into a long problem, or it may not be."
Still, the Trump administration is plowing full steam ahead with pushes to "re-open" the country replete with fallacies, deflections, and blatant lies.
Despite the risk of more illness and death, we are putting profit and politics over public health.
And why not?
Because when the facts are concealed, numbers become irrelevant.
The astronomical toll the coronavirus is taking on the country is based only on what has been allowed to be reported.
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