America’s Covid shame: Damning BMJ report slams US for closing schools for too long and masking up outside – while warning pandemic response was a ‘postcode lottery’

America has failed its people during Covid, according to a damning report from the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

The BMJ has launched a series highlighting the actions the US had to take during the pandemic to avoid “blindingly high” death rates compared to its peer countries.

In a editorial To launch the series, guest editors Gavin Yamey of Duke University in North Carolina and Ana Roux of Drexel University in Pennsylvania said crucial steps could have been taken to prevent Covid’s “pandemic chaos.”

The authors said several mistakes made in the US that led to the clumsy response to the Covid-19 crisis include keeping schools closed for extended periods of time, a lack of clear and consistent information from federal agencies, the closure of some public services and unproven scientific advice. including keeping one and a half meters apart.

For most of 2020, the CDC advised Americans to wear masks outdoors if they were within six feet of each other

In early 2020, tens of thousands of schools across the country closed their doors in an effort to stop the spread of the virus. They switched to virtual education, with millions of children learning online and isolated.

And while ultimately, in 2021, Research found that schools could be reopened safely if basic public health measures were in place, such as improved ventilation. “Too many schools continued to teach online only,” the report said.

This meant children missed out on vital learning and socialization activities, and they acquired natural immunity against other viruses by mingling with their peers.

Furthermore, after other studies found that Covid was unlikely to be transmitted through objects and surfaces and that transmission outdoors was far less common than indoors, some states still kept parks, playgrounds and beaches closed, forcing people to stay indoors for months with little to no socialization.

This had a devastating impact on mental and physical health.

A Gallup report released in December 2023 surveyed more than 5,000 American adults in all 50 states and tracked changes in mental and physical conditions from 2019, before the pandemic made its way to the US.

It found that since the pandemic-era lockdowns, Americans have experienced record highs in obesity and diabetes, as well as increases in high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol. They also developed worse diets.

In other 2020 guidance from the CDC, Americans were advised—and in some states even directed— to wear masks outdoors when within two meters of each other.

This guidance was ultimately dropped in April 2021 after the CDC recognized mounting evidence that outdoor transmission of the coronavirus is extremely rare, accounting for less than 10 percent of cases.

Increased risks of transmission were mainly associated with crowded gatherings that had the potential to become super-spreading events and with people within close proximity of each other.

And while the US had abundant scientific resources, the US response to Covid was lacking, the authors said, as the government showed a “surprising inability to generate reliable information, communicate it in a timely and consistent manner, and deliver it in a healthy way.” translate policy.’

“These failures started at the top,” the authors said.

They pointed to then-President Donald Trump’s suggestion in 2020 to inject disinfectant into people with Covid, which had “terrible consequences” and “symbolized chaotic presidential communications.”

Communication failures were exacerbated by the division of power between the national government and the 50 states, which meant that Americans’ experiences with the Covid response “depended on zip code,” they added.

Although the purpose of the series is “not to blame,” there is “plenty to do,” the editors said.

The BMJ piece also highlighted another key context that exacerbated America’s poor response to the pandemic: the country’s pre-existing health care inequalities.

These include gaps in healthcare coverage and accessibility, the absence of social safety nets – such as school feeding programs – and workplace protections.

Social inequality and systemic racism have also made matters worse, the report said.

There was also reduced funding for both state and federal health departments.

Between 2010 and 2019, the CDC’s budget and funding for public health emergency preparedness were reduced.

During that period, per capita spending for state public health departments fell by 16 percent and for local health departments by 18 percent.

“Depleted state and local health departments were ill-equipped to fill the breach” left by the Trump administration, “which botched the federal response,” the report said.

Before the release of the BMJ report, Dr. Anthony Fauci was questioned by Congress earlier this month about some of the failures during the pandemic highlighted in the editorial.

The infectious disease expert said the data does not support recommendations for keeping six feet apart and that vaccine mandates he personally recommended will likely increase vaccine hesitancy.

Dr. Fauci told the House of Representatives coronavirus subcommittee that scientific data was not the driving force behind the blanket six-foot recommendation to reduce the spread of the virus, saying the rule “seemed arbitrary.”

He also said vaccine mandates, which divided the nation in 2021, likely reinforced a general sense of distrust in the government, with more and more people questioning its motives.

Fauci also pivoted on his views on Trump’s 2020 orders restricting incoming travelers from China, where the Covid pandemic originated.

He told Congress at the January 2024 hearing that he supported the ban — despite publicly criticizing the measure when Trump announced it.