[Forbes] A group of researchers from Columbia University say that between 130,000 and 210,000 Covid-19 deaths in the U.S. could have been avoided were it not for the government’s “abject failures” in managing the crisis — blaming an administration that was slow to act, ignored experts, and failed to adapt and improve over the course of the pandemic, as well as “woefully inadequate” contact tracing and testing and the lack of any national mask mandate or guidance.

With over 220,000 recorded deaths from Covid-19, the U.S. ranks first in the world in total fatalities. The report’s conclusions are not surprising — U.S. leadership has taken an almost perverse pride in actively ignoring, even mocking, its own experts and undermining the reputation of its own public health organizations that before this pandemic were considered among the best in the world. The numbers do, however, illustrate the tragic cost of poor leadership and just how many American’s might be alive today had leaders taken another path.

In the report’s conclusion, the researchers put a particular emphasis on the “inability or unwillingness” of U.S. officials to adapt or improve the national pandemic response.

https://ncdp.columbia.edu/custom-content/uploads/2020/10/Avoidable-COVID-19-Deaths-US-NCDP.pdf