Downplaying didn't help

When I heard the tape-recorded conversation between the president and reporter Bob Woodward from Feb. 7, I could almost believe that the president didn't want the country to panic. Almost.

President Trump believed the virus was more deadly than the flu and transmitted to others very easily. But it wasn't necessary to tell the American people that same information?

I'm not buying his argument. Down playing the severity of the pandemic didn't help limit deaths from the virus. Down playing the severity of the pandemic didn't help get a robust testing program up and running in a timely manner. Down playing the pandemic won't get a vaccine to us any sooner.

That is no excuse for not developing a strategy for combating the virus. Medical experts have told us that we do have tools that we can use: wear a mask, use social distancing, limit exposure to crowds, wash your hands. With deaths in the U.S. nearing 200,000, just think how bad this would be if we had no tools available to us.

Use the tools we already have. It just seems like a no-brainer.

Lin Galloway

Mundelein