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Americans across the country are fighting to stay alive, while
Trump acts as if he is more intent on saving the economy. We can
stilltry to control the virusas the East Asian countries are doing
and in the process we will rescue the economy too. We need deci-
sive action across states and cities. We are finding leadership today
in our governors, mayors and our brave frontline health workers.

How US can keep death toll far below the 100,000
projection

By Jeffrey Sachs

On Tuesday, the White Houseprojectedan alarming possibility:
Between 100,000 and 240,000 Americans could die from theCo-
vid-19 pandemic, despite the efforts in place to minimize the spread
of the disease. Yet these 100,000 to 240,000 deaths are not inevita-
ble. Far from it. As ofThursday nightthere have been around 5,850
to date in the US, and of the 242,000 active cases, unfortunately
several thousand are likely to die. But the US could still keep the
death toll well below 100,000. It all depends on our public policy,
and especially on our public health system.
We are now fighting the disease in intensive care units and
through lockdowns, but that’s because the US missed the early
chance to take sufficient containment measures through testing,
isolating, and contact tracing of individual cases. The federal go-
vernment was grossly unprepared to handle the rapidly spreading
infection, and so were the states and cities, which relied heavily on
the federal government. The pandemic engulfed the country before
governments at all levels recognized the dire emergency. By that
time, the public health containment systems were overwhelmed by
tens of thousands of confirmed cases, and many times more untes-
ted and unconfirmed infections.

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