This says so, so much about why the federal response is struggling.

Trump is explicit that he takes a reactive approach to a crisis that exponentially punishes delay.

The only way to win is to get ahead of the virus. Reaction = failure. https://twitter.com/Yamiche/status/1246542695318933505">https://twitter.com/Yamiche/s...
Calibrating action based on case numbers or ER admissions *today* means you are actually reacting to what the virus was doing *2+ weeks ago*.

From time of exposure, most people start begin experiencing symptoms within 11 days, and it often takes another week to become severe.
And testing delays can add further time before a case gets officially counted. So taking action only once things get bad, as Trump is suggesting, means constantly running 2-3 weeks behind the virus.

What does this mean in terms of response timing?
These figures make it pretty clear.

If you act when you see 69 cases, you& #39;ll hit 2800 cases before seeing impact.

If you wait til you have 25K cases, you& #39;ll hit 311K cases before seeing impact. https://twitter.com/ryanstruyk/status/1246625854618206210?s=20">https://twitter.com/ryanstruy...
Deaths lag even further, because people can spend 2-3 weeks in the ER. So if you wait until death totals look bad, you& #39;ll be a month behind the virus. https://twitter.com/ryanstruyk/status/1246624644637110275?s=20">https://twitter.com/ryanstruy...
So when Trump says governors who aren& #39;t mandating stay-at-home orders are doing great, he and they are just consigning their states to ever higher case counts and deaths. https://twitter.com/ryanstruyk/status/1246543241215971330?s=20">https://twitter.com/ryanstruy...
And by calibrating the federal response similarly, he ensures that we& #39;re always playing catch-up. It& #39;s like letting a forest fire rage unchecked until it reaches the edge of town.
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