Fact #1  Today, most experts believe that widespread mask wearing and widespread testing are the best ways to control Covid-19.

Fact #2: February and March were the months when the epidemic in America got out of control, when public policy was most decisive.

Fact #3: During February and March, public health officials actively discouraged testing.

Fact #4: During February and March, public health officials actively discouraged mask wearing.

Alaska was down to only 38 cases in mid-May, before exploding upward:

New Zealand was down to 65 cases, and kept falling:

Consider the following two stories from yesterday’s news.  Think about the media sources where these individuals may have gotten their ideas:

 

For a while, the US was doing better than Europe.  Now we have more total deaths despite a far smaller population, a younger population, less dense cities, less public transit, being initially hit less hard, and far more spending on health care.  And the gap is getting bigger—a month from now we’ll be doing much worse than Europe.

HT:  Matt Yglesias