That type of “wait and see” approach to leadership and government is exactly what this virus exploits. The U.S. should have started ramping up supply productio

That type of “wait and see” approach to leadership and government is exactly what this virus exploits. The U.S. should have started ramping up supply production in the early days, not because they had some guarantee that this particular virus would wreak havoc in America, but because two things should have been readily apparent: 1) The stockpile of essential supplies was apparently abysmally low, both at a state and federal level 2) That if this specific respiratory virus didn’t end up arriving on U.S. shores, it was just a matter of time before one did. Aggressive production should have begun long ago, with the assumption that supplies may be needed for this outbreak, and if not, it ought have been treated as a wake up call and at least the country would be more prepared for a future outbreak that could happen at any time. Not only production, but aggressive public messaging about reasonable social distancing, hand washing, etc. should have begun much earlier. The inaction was, in my view, bizarre and indefensible, and few elected officials exhibited the true qualities of leadership that are needed to foresee the risk and act swiftly to hedge against the risks that were readily apparent early on.