The light at the end of the tunnelIn March 2020, the world was stunned by the tragedy that COVID-19 was leaving in its wake in Italy. Hospitals with no beds available for the sick, a health structure on the verge of collapse, deaths numbering in the thousands and a government overwhelmed by the economic consequences caused by a virus whose origin is not well known, let alone the planetary repercussions it would have.
Many countries, including the United States (U.S.), believed that a drama similar to the Italian one would not occur in their borders, and if it did, it would be like a simple flu, controllable in a few weeks. They miscalculated. Almost a year after the first outbreaks of COVID-19, in Wuhan and then in Italy, more than 109 million coronavirus infections have been recorded worldwide, of which two and a half million have died.
Government response
THE U.S. LEADS THE WORLD IN DEATHS AND INFECTIONS. The U.S. leads the list of dead and infected people in the world. In mid-February 2021, the number of cases in that country reached 28 million with half a million dead. This is a figure that exceeds the number of deaths caused by the American wars, a number surpassed only by the U.S. Civil War. The most affected states are California, Texas, Florida and New York.
How can this happen in the most powerful country on the planet, which has the best hospitals in the world and is a powerhouse in medicine and technology? It will take several years to answer this question with certainty. Part of the answer will be up to researchers, doctors and scientists.
Today it is only possible to offer a few elements for understanding the pandemic in the U.S. Among them, it is worth noting the response that the federal and state governments offered to respond to this health crisis. At the federal and state levels, the U.S. government miscalculated and failed to take early prevention measures, even when there was time to act.
The first cases of COVID-19 in the United States occurred between January and February 2020. These were people who had been to Hubei Province, China (whose most populous city is Wuhan). By the end of February, coronavirus cases began to occur in people who had not been outside the U.S. By mid-March, transmission was widespread and by April almost 800,000 cases were reported in the country.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention
One of the first government agencies to detect the danger posed by Covid-19 and to take the necessary actions to avoid a disaster was the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This agency is responsible for developing and implementing nationwide actions for disease prevention and control. Among other actions, this agency monitored, followed up and published a series of recommendations for the prevention and control of covid. These documents were prepared by leading physicians and scientists and were intended to present information that could be applied in different contexts, e.g. schools, workplaces, public places.
As in other countries, frequent sanitization of public places, social distancing and the use of masks, among other measures, were recommended. In view of the novelty and seriousness of the circumstances, the CDC did its scientific and informative work; however, the federal executive did not take it very seriously.
The greatest threat
The U.S. intelligence system also sent reports since the beginning of 2020 to the Federal Executive and some government agencies, warning of the possible lethality of the Coronavirus in the United States. One of the intelligence memos of January 30, 2020, sent to President Trump stated: "This will be the greatest national security threat facing your term in office".
A few days later, the President declared that in the event that COVID-19 reached American soil, it would be like a simple flu and that the "Chinese virus" would not seriously affect the country. At that time, the former president contented himself with closing the US borders to Chinese citizens (later it would be the turn of the European Union) and implementing the detection and monitoring of Americans returning to the US from China.
Despite this ineffective management of the pandemic at the federal level, it is not possible to say that all the responsibility fell on the U.S. executive branch. The states also played a preponderant role.
Of the 50 states, few adopted drastic, mandatory and lasting containment measures, including California (CA) and New York (NY). Other states were content to propose (as a suggestion) sanitary protocols and provide information and testing. These states include Texas (TX) and Georgia (GA). In these places, strict containment lasted only a few weeks.
The most populated states
California and Texas are the states that represent the contrasting American paradigm adopted in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. California and Texas are the most populous states in the nation, home to one-fifth of all Americans. The rest of the states adopted some model similar to these two paradigms.
Why was it not possible to centrally enforce severe national containment measures and mandatory protocols in the U.S., as was done in countries such as Italy and France? Because of the configuration of the American political system. The U.S. is a federal constitutional republic that operates under separation of powers, checks and balances and judicial review. The states enjoy sovereignty and have as their highest law the U.S. Constitution. When the founding fathers drafted it, they wanted to avoid a monarchical system of the English type, where the central power dominated over the various jurisdictions.
The federalist system
Between 1787 and 1788, debates took place before and during the drafting of the American Constitution, which provoked a struggle between Federalists and Anti-Federalists. The result was the current American federalist system. Thus, in the event that the executive branch enacted a law that a state considered unacceptable, the case would end up in the Supreme Court, which has the power to reverse the law, declaring it inadmissible.
Therefore, it is very difficult that even under the worst health crisis the U.S. has ever experienced, the executive power can dictate coercive laws, mandatory throughout the national territory (there are exceptions, for example in case of war). Supranational institutions such as the European Union with a central bank and other central mechanisms are unthinkable in the USA.
Texas and the economy
Since its birth as a state, Texas has always been skeptical of government intervention in private affairs or in the economy. In many Texas cities, confinement lasted only a few weeks. In fact, Governor Greg Abbott left the decision to enforce sanitary measures (including the use of mouth covers) to the counties and cities. Thus, Texas and Georgia reopened their businesses and commercial activities some time before most of the states. Not only businesses, but schools returned a few months later to start the academic cycle. Thus, many people returned to a deconfined lifestyle.
Which was more important, the health of the population or the health of the state economy? In this dilemma, Texas has historically opted for the latter. Today Texas is the second most Covid-affected state in the U.S. The top spot is held by California.
California crackdown
In contrast, California has distinguished itself as a more liberal state open to government intervention. It was one of the first states to enact very severe mandatory confinement measures. Today, nearly a year into the pandemic, many of those rules are still in place. Unlike other states, California only allows certain types of businesses to open under certain conditions, such as restaurants that offer take-out food or have outdoor eating areas.
Likewise, education in that state continues to be delivered online, as many educational institutions still do not allow students on their campuses. One of the paradoxes is that, despite the fact that California has taken the most severe control and containment measures in the country, it is the state that tops the list of contagions and deaths at the national level.
