The US has got to get its anti-coronavirus act together

The most troubling thing right now about the coronavirus pandemic is that the US is still hopelessly divided over what to do, how long to maintain lockdown and how quickly businesses and industry etc should reopen. State by state different decisions are being taken and you only have to watch the US TV news to see that a lot of people are just not bothering to social distance at all. US Navy Blue Angel and US Air Force Thunderbird jets flew over Washington in a display on Saturday in honour of the doctors and nurses and others saving lives around the country. Fine, but thousands of people turned out to watch and there were massive crowds, all seemingly ignoring the rule that they should stand two metres from each other. I'm sure every country in the world, with the exception of China and possibly South Korea, has faced the odd occasion when crowds have gathered and the police have had to move in to disperse them. But in the US this is a huge problem. There are protests in numerous states with people shouting to be allowed to go back to work, and their protests were, if not encouraged by Trump, at least supported by him. There is a kind of anarchy going on in the States. Like the funeral that took place in New York last week of a much-loved rabbi. Literally thousands of people attended. There wasn't a hint of social distancing and the police had to take drastic action to split them all up. But it was too late. I think this all part of the American psyche. Americans, possibly more than any other nation's citizens, just hate being told what to do. They value their freedom and rights to such a degree that any administration or state governor dictating how they should conduct themselves is met with instant suspicion. The guidance issued by the federal government and by individual governors is for their own good but if an American wants to go back to work, whatever the consequences to his health or to the health of others, he will demand it is his right. Am I being fair? Having lived in the US for three years, I know that individual freedom plays a key role in American society. It's all about the US constitution. We here in Britain don't have a constitution but we love our freedom as well and especially our free speech, but if the government, backed by scientific and medical advice, lays down how we should live our lives during the coronavirus pandemic, on the whole we listen and adhere to the guidelines, although there are always individaul exceptions. In Sweden the government has been far less proscriptive and controlling and yet the Swedish people have largely been sensible and adhered to a sort of social distancing arrangement. One of the problems for the American people is that the messages from the White House and state capitals have been so mixed. I doubt there are many people who could state without equivocation exactly what the US administration wants its citizens to do. But even if they did and the message from the White House was not so ambivalent, there would still be rebellion from those who believe their constititional rights are more important than sticking to rigid health guidelines. The US is already easily the worst-hit nation in the world and I fear that if lockdown restrictions are lifted on too grand a scale, there will be terrible consequences.