This Is What Happens When You Can’t Trust Official Coronavirus Advice
The U.S. has formal and informal coronavirus guidance — and it’s confusing and dangerous
If trust is the currency of leadership, then the United States is running on overdraft — and it’s costing American lives.
Countries that have successfully suppressed Covid-19 have done so in different ways, but there’s one thing they tend to have in common: high levels of trust between citizens and the government officials in charge of combating the virus.
South Korea’s success, for example, has been largely credited to the work the country has done to build a culture of political accountability after past pandemics, which has been important for getting public buy-in for lockdown and distancing measures. In Greece, Sotiris Tsiodras, the Greek Health Ministry’s spokesperson and an infectious disease expert, gives daily briefings and, through empathy and data-sharing, has gained widespread trust and affection. A recent poll declared him the most popular Greek today.
President Donald Trump, on the other hand, contradicts and outright criticizes American scientists who have experience in responding to pandemics. He recently lambasted the guidelines to reopen schools developed by the Centers for Disease Control…
