ON MARCH 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic of covid-19. The virus causing covid had already been circulating for at least four months. People were dying from some kind of strange pneumonia. In the five years since, our world has changed. As of December 2024, there were more than 7 million covid deaths worldwide (the actual number is likely three times that high) and 1.2 million were in the United States. The coronavirus has left an indelible mark on relationships, social institutions, and politics.
In 2025, we are still dealing with the shock and trauma of who and what we lost. Our sublimated grief, confusion, and anger too often manifest as personal denial, social apathy, or political individualism. All while the virus persists among us. For proper healing and to navigate this “new normal,” we must first square the last five years.
From the jump, the U.S. failed to provide an adequate pandemic response. President Donald Trump, in his first term, was handed an unexpected event — but not an unprecedented one. Preparations for a mass public health event were available, but by politicizing public health his administration left the country vulnerable. In 2018, Trump’s national security adviser oversaw the disbanding of the global health security team. Trump’s adversarial stance toward China, including increased tariffs, negatively impacted the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) available in the U.S. In those first key months, the administration chose propaganda, not science, to fight the pandemic. In May 2020, Trump pulled the U.S. out of the World Health Organization (as he did again in January this year), which was coordinating a global response.
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