Frontline heroes left behind : American healthcare workers during the era of COVID-19

![CDATA[In October 2019, the Global Health Security (GHS) Index ranked the United States as the most prepared country against biological threats. Nevertheless, as of 1 June, 2020, the US death toll from the COVID-19 outbreak was 106,187, and confirmed infection cases had skyrocketed to 1,836,872. Currently, the US holds the highest fatality numbers recorded worldwide. These grim facts have exposed the illegitimacy of GHS Index rankings and revealed that the US was unprepared to deal with a pandemic of this magnitude. Why wasn’t America ready for COVID-19? In May 2018, the Federal Government decided to defund a branch of the National Security Council. Ironically, that branch was the Health Security and Biodefense Directorate, which is responsible for pandemic preparedness. Being ill-equipped to manage this new and unforeseen COVID-19 threat resulted in a slow and disorganized national response that has jeopardized thousands of American lives. Another reason for the current health crisis was that the Federal Government adopted unconventional policies in regard to handling the outbreak. The Trump administration left it up to the states to oversee the COVID-19 response. Most states had no unifying guidelines and created their own planning for dealing with the pandemic. For instance, California’s Governor, Mr Gavin Newson, was the first to issue stay-athome orders starting from 19 March, 2020. This measure restricted businesses such as gyms and retail stores from operating, while it allowed others that provide more essential services (e.g. post offices and supermarkets) to remain open. Other states, based on how they judged the situation, issued their own version of stay-at-home orders or outright refused to issue orders, such as Arkansas. The often-stated purpose of stay-at-home orders is to flatten the COVID-19 curve and prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed.]]