There is plenty more that could have been done by both Congress and the executive. However the national response from the president and the executive branch ha

There is plenty more that could have been done by both Congress and the executive. However the national response from the president and the executive branch has been an abject failure on almost every front from day 1 - including testing, data collection, supply coordination and proven public health policy like mask mandates. The Defense Production Act could have been used to marshall supplies, which were known to face shortages, in January. Instead the virus was downplayed and the act wasn't invoked until late March. Money for supplies went to ineffective and politically connected middlemen like Blue Flame Medical, who could not actually deliver supplies. The president refused to wear a mask in public until July and continues to muddy the water about their effectiveness, stoking anti-mask sentiment (admittedly only relevant to his base). Instead ineffective treatments like hydroxychloroquine were hawked and endlessly pushed into a nonsense debate for months. A national testing strategy implemented by executive branch agenencies, such as CDC and HSH could have had a huge impact on the spread. Instead there was no guidance or coordination of testing supplies, states are still competing with each other to purchase testing supplies. We found out this week that HHS has tampered scientific reports and COVID data with political motivations! Funds for supplies have hardly been the only problem here.