Today’s Public Health Emergency: Restoring Trust With 7 Steps

Response coordinator for White House Coronavirus Task Force Dr. Deborah Birx (L) looks on as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci speaks and points to a graphic during the daily briefing on the CCP Virus and COVID-19, in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House on March 31, 2020. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Commentary

The public health emergency of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic ended long ago, but the United States faces a new emergency. Faith in health agencies has plummeted more rapidly since 2019 than any other government institution, with almost two-thirds now rating the jobs being done by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as “only fair or poor.” Half of the United States no longer has much confidence in science itself.