COVID-19 is continuing to ravage the globe. In many Western Countries, the populous has not embraced public health advice which has resulted in a resurgence of the COVID-19 virus. In the United States, there is an absence of a coordinated Federal response. Instead, frontline workers and average citizens are having to cope with extensive mixed messaging regarding mask usage and social distancing from the highest levels of government. This has resulted in the United States not being able to achieve a low level of infection since the pandemic began. In addition, many citizens hold a profound belief that individual freedoms must be preserved, even at the expense of public health; and view the wearing of masks as renouncing this right. These engrained political beliefs can be traced back to the late 1800s. The response of the United States has also been hampered by a highly cost-efficient healthcare system, which does not provide universal care and has a just-in-time supply chain, with far too few supplies in reserve. This efficiency prevented a rapid scaling up of the healthcare response, which resulted in severe deficiencies in available personal protective equipment (PPE) and healthcare staff. To compound issues many healthcare staff are not provided an economic or healthcare safety net. Other frontline workers, such as those who work in transportation and food services, are working under even greater adversities. Many of these workers are from diverse backgrounds, who, along with their families, are at even greater risk for COVID-19. This vulnerable population of frontline workers are faced with a choice of going to work with inadequate PPE or placing food on their families’ table. In the United States, official recommendations seem to be ever changing, based more upon supply and test availability, than on science. We must rely on science and learn from the lessons of past pandemics or we will relive, even to a greater degree, the deaths and devastations experienced by our ancestors over 100 years ago.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19：透过前线的眼睛，国际视角

COVID-19 正在继续肆虐全球。在许多西方国家，民众没有接受公共卫生建议，导致 COVID-19 病毒卷土重来。在美国，联邦政府缺乏协调一致的应对措施。相反，一线工作人员和普通民众不得不应对有关口罩使用和与政府最高层保持社交距离的广泛混合信息。这导致美国自疫情爆发以来一直未能实现低感染水平。此外，许多公民坚信必须维护个人自由，即使以牺牲公共健康为代价；并将戴口罩视为放弃这一权利。这些根深蒂固的政治信仰可以追溯到 1800 年代末。美国的应对措施也受到成本效益极高的医疗保健系统的阻碍，该系统不提供全民护理，并且拥有及时供应链，但储备供应太少。这种效率阻碍了医疗保健响应的快速扩大，从而导致可用的个人防护设备（PPE）和医疗人员的严重不足。使问题更加复杂的是，许多医护人员没有获得经济或医疗安全网。其他一线工人，例如运输和食品服务行业的工人，则面临着更大的逆境。其中许多工人来自不同的背景，他们及其家人感染 COVID-19 的风险更大。一线工作人员中的这一弱势群体面临着选择：是带着不足的个人防护装备去上班，还是把食物放在家人的餐桌上。在美国，官方建议似乎在不断变化，更多地基于供应和测试可用性，而不是科学。我们必须依靠科学并从过去的流行病中汲取教训，否则我们将甚至在更大程度上重温我们的祖先在 100 多年前所经历的死亡和破坏。