From Politico: Southern governors create a Covid-19 coalition and experts fear a ‘perfect storm’
Southern Governors Create a Covid-19 Coalition That Worries Experts
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Monthly Archives: April 2020
Prominent Economist’s View of Reopening
From BloombergNews: Haphazard Reopening Risks Public Health and Economy. A stop-go-stop pattern might work, but it would more likely be a medical and business setback.
“Gaps in Preparedness, Coordination are Costing Lives”
From GovTech: Coronavirus: Gaps in Preparedness, Coordination Costing Lives
“You have to have uniform guidance across the country and ideally, across the globe where you have to have coordination of supply chain, so you don’t’ have every state over-ordering for the worst-case scenario …”
Planning for Disasters
From HSToday: COVID-19 Pandemic Plus the Big One: Preparing for a Disaster Double-Punch. An exceprt:
Let’s end on a positive note, which we adamantly believe. We’ll eventually get through whatever this pandemic, Mother Nature, or anything else throws at us next. Not because we have no choice. But because we can. And because we always have.
But let’s be primed to go big, go fast, and be nimble. Because we kept planning.
The Diva is Worried
I do not usually inject my personal views in this blog, but as a person who has spent more than 40 years in the field of emergency management – as a researcher, adjunct professor, consultant, practitioner – I am truly concerned about how President Trump is mismanaging the response to and slow recovery from COVID-19.
Much of my past work has involved sharing the experience and expertise of the U.S., sometimes with other countries. Presently, the U.S. is a dreadful model. I can only hope that things get corrected here in the near future.
These thoughts were triggered by reading this article in the WashPost: Directions on Safely Reopening the County Must Come from Credible Officials Not Trump.
Natural Disaster Planning In addition to Covid-19 Response
From InsideClimateNews: For Emergency Personnel, Disaster Planning Must Now Factor in Covid-19. As the coronavirus rips through America, vulnerable first responders brace for intense floods, hurricanes, droughts and wildfires
Significant Analysis of the Defense Production Act
The Defense Production Act and the Failure to Prepare for Catastrophic Incidents.
“The executive branch’s ad-hoc application of the Defense Production Act’s authorities to this pandemic is Exhibit A of how our government, across multiple Republican and Democratic administrations and throughout the national security enterprise, has failed to develop or adapt the Act’s tools for the threats of the 21st century. This failure has occurred despite congressional attempts to improve realistic planning for using it in catastrophes.”
Trump’s Reopening Collides with Reality
From Politico: How Trump’s reopening plans could collide with reality. Consumer and business behavior is mostly out of the president’s ability to control. Some excerpts:
Trump can fire off tweets, attempt to bully states into lifting social restrictions and otherwise declare America open for business. But he can’t force companies to reopen or ramp up production until owners and executives believe their workers are ready.
He also can’t make consumers flock back to malls, bars, restaurants, sports arenas or other public areas until they feel comfortable they‘ll be safe from the coronavirus.
Reports on Reopening the Country- revised
The Diva located the AEI report early in the day, but by noontime she found mention of four plans. See below:
From the American Enterprise Institute: National coronavirus response: A road map to reopening. Lead author is Dr. Scott Gottlieb. Report is 20 pp.
From Vox: The 4 plans to end social distancing, explained. The plans all say the US needs more testing. But they differ on how much more.
Economic Decision Tool To Help Plan for Disasters – from NIST
From HSNewswire: Online Economic Decision Tool to Help Communities Plan for Disaster.
Preparing a community’s buildings and infrastructure for a hurricane or earthquake can be an incredibly complicated and costly endeavor. A new online tool from NIST could streamline this process and help decision makers invest in cost-effective measures to improve their community’s ability to mitigate, adapt to and recover from hazardous events.
Recovery Diva 