It's been four years, almost to the day, since Covid mushroomed into the U.S.A. It was March 11, 2020 when the NBA cancelled their season and March 13 when college basketball's "March Madness" tournament was scratched. You scratch the hoops tournament...it's real. Schools shut down for the year and business shut downs quickly followed. We all remember what happened, though to me, it seems far away now and like it was just a bad dream. It seems like that time wasn't really real.
Anyway, I've not written or commented on anything Covid since that time. I'm done with it. Last night, when I woke up at 1 a.m., the CDC was on my mind. Seriously, why am I thinking this? Why was I thinking CDC because it's really not something that interests me.
Specifically, I was thinking about CDC damage. By CDC damage, I mean a few things:
- damage to the CDC
- damage to trust
- damage done by the CDC
- damage that might be done by the CDC
Damage to the CDC
The Centers for Disease Control in the U.S.A. used to be the gold standard for health-related matters, at least that's how my naive eyes saw it. I was raised to respect authorities and science, and when it came to issues of health concern, the CDC was the authority. A certain level of respect was held, "If the CDC says it, that's the way it is and it's serious," was the mindset. That sounds very, very naive now, but I don't think I'm alone at all in that thinking.
The damage to the CDC regarding Covid was their own doing. First, we were told to, "Follow the science." We were told that masks work. Then we were told that the upcoming vaccine would prevent Covid. Then we were told that maybe two masks were required. Then we were told that a second booster vaccine was required. Then we were told that masks aren't really effective, but a booster vaccine every six months or so would be required. Then we were told that the vaccines don't actually prevent Covid, but they lessen the effects of Covid once you get it, and we're told that almost everyone will eventually get it.
That was an awful lot of a changing story. I guess the science was changing. (I think we were actually told that too.) The damage to the CDC is simply that the ironclad trust in the CDC has been shattered.
Damage to trust
Remember the Pentagon Papers from the history books in the Vietnam War era (or maybe you personally remember those news stories). Again, it sounds so naive by today's standards, but pre-Vietnam Americans actually trusted the news sources and trusted the government. News reporters largely simply did just that - they reported what happened. Walter Kronkite reported what happened, then said, "And that's the way it is," then left the figuring-it-out up to the people.
And, when information was officially released by the U.S. government, that was that. The government was official, and their information was the official information, and that was that.
The Pentagon Papers leaked out deception about American involvement in Vietnam. Particularly, what Americans had been told publicly clearly did not jive with what was happening on the ground in Vietnam. A whole generation of jaded "question authority" youngsters emerged and trust has never been the same.
The CDC, in my view, had up-until-Covid, been somewhat exempted from this jaded cynicism. If the Pentagon issues a statement about issue X, or if Congress does, I think we all today understand there's always an angle being played, militarily or politically or both. Yet, I think the CDC was perceived as having as something of a holier mission, that they were above the fray. Holding a nation's health, and leading the world's health, stems from the Hippocratic oath and, therefore, their hands are clean.
That trust is damaged now. I'm not a cynic, so, I don't think the CDC willfully acted with malice. However, I do think they put the cart before the horse with things...they made assumptions in their statements, stating what they wished rather than stating things in a more measured manner.
My guess, and it's just a guess, is that they simply didn't know what was going on or what to do. None of us did, but being able to honestly say, "I don't know," goes a long way in my view. My guess is that they wished to try and calm fears, to quell hysteria, so they dangled masks as real prevention and vaccines as cures and then vaccines as ways to avoid more serious illness.
The point here - trust, generally speaking, has been damaged. Trust in government was already fractured, now trust in the CDC is as well.
Damage done
Following the CDC's recommendations, the shutdowns occurred. There was damage and it came in different forms.
Economic damage - I really have no idea how much damage was done by effectively shutting down the world's economy. How do you measure that? Do we even have measurements for that? I did a quick search. This USC article estimated $14 trillion dollars damage by the end of 2023. The Wikipedia article is rather depressing. The first paragraph captures things and they're all bad. I don't blame the CDC for this, but I do think the CDC is a world leader in health concerns and their recommendations do matter. They were "at the table" when these decisions were made.
Psychological damage - People aren't built to be alone and disconnected from others all the time. Some time alone is good, we all know it's absolutely it's essential to get away every now and then! But, it's not good to be alone for long periods and especially not for children. I think the mental aspects of Covid are emerging and playing out now and will be for quite some time going forward. This Gallup article is revealing. Notice the spike in March 2020? That's pretty clear cause-and-effect in my eyes.
- Test scores - Maybe the easiest measurement of Covid's effects can be seen in children's test scores. They're bad.
Future damage
Still lying awake early this morning, I thought of what might happen in the future with the CDC. I wondered, "What's gonna happen next time a big health scare pops up?"
If another virus emerges, I think its pretty clear what would happen. The CDC would cry bloody murder, again, call for masking and distancing and vaccines. Government officials, at least part of them, would cry for shutdowns and lockdowns. It appears that is their playbook. But, at least in America, half of the country would simply say, "Nope, ain't doing it." So, there'd be a half and half reaction.
I wondered, "What if something else happened, something non-virus, but still health related?" I really, really don't know why this popped into my mind, but I thought of toe fungus.
If a toe fungus epidemic broke out, and if the CDC started calling for a ban on open-toed shoes and flip flops and such. (Actually, open-toed shoes might be the way to go...that might actually help dry out the fungus. I dunno.) If the CDC started recommending twice-a-day toe sanitizing and public dispensing of toe powder, how would people respond?
My guess is that people would respond much in the same ways as if another coronavirus popped up. Faith in the CDC has been damaged and that's a hard thing to get back. So, even if the toe fungus measures were in fact correct and effective, a large segment of the population likely would not follow those fungus guidelines. They actually might not follow the guidelines simply because the CDC is telling to follow the guidelines! And, they'd get the fungus and damage would occur.
Last thought...hurricanes
When a hurricane approaches, the officials make their analysis and predictions. In the U.S., it's NOAA and the National Hurricane Center (NHC), government-run agencies. I think both are mostly still trusted. But, as the storm approaches, they must do a balancing act as they warn and inform people of possible dangers.
- They must not under-warn of danger
- They must not over-warn of danger
If they under-warn about the storm, they give a false sense of safety, people won't take it seriously and terrible things can happen by not taking action or preparing.
If they over-warn about the storm, the storm may not be as intense as it was made out to be or if it may veer off the predicted course, then trust is damaged. With damaged trust, the next time a storm comes, people will not take heed to what the NHC says and results can be catastrophic.
Personally, I like it and respect "authorities" when they're sure enough of themselves to simply say, "I don't know." In the case of a hurricane, I think most people understand that "I don't know" truly is the largely correct answer, so saying, "I don't know" might be more acceptable in cases involving the weather.
The CDC might do well to talk to the NHC. When the toe fungus pandemic hits, "I don't know" what will happen.
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STOPTo support your work, I also upvoted your post!
Just like that due to Corona there were many things which were stopped but have not been restarted yet so governments should restart all these things even if it is some kind of game people from it. Love a lot.