Penguins Fail the Crisis Leadership Test
Numbers are up: About 3,000 deaths last week from COVID-19 (2,952 when data tracking paused Friday for the holiday weekend) on top of more than 487,000 new infections. Almost 5,400 people enter hospitals for COVID-19 infections every day.
Deaths, hospitalizations and cases all rising. Flu and Respiratory Syncytial Virus cases are increasing. Holiday travel and gatherings are perfect transmission opportunities for respiratory viruses.
With similar numbers early in the pandemic mitigation steps were taken. They were a drag, but they likely saved lives. Most modeling shows that earlier action would have saved more lives, but it’s too late to change that.
What we can change is how we react to the present crisis.
A few public leaders have recommended putting on masks in places where the numbers are spiking. Some health officials too. Nobody has mustered the will to make it official.
Politicians are acting like penguins.
Often penguins will gather at the seaside, but none of them will want to be first to jump in—for fear that leopard seals, sea lions or orcas might be waiting to gobble them up. The penguins will gather and jostle until eventually one falls into the water. If that penguin swims away safely, others will follow.
Making a decision to mitigate danger of respiratory infections requires someone with the courage to act. Instead, the people who can act to protect entire communities are waiting to see what happens as leaders inch toward some semblance of a response.
Don’t be a penguin.
Act now to provide risk mitigation to your in-person activities. Attend Safe offers testing for all three of the Tri-demic respiratory viruses (coronavirus, flu and RSV) with testing results for all three availability in 30 minutes or less. The aim is to stop viruses at the door.
Put your people first. Don’t wait for people who rely on popularity to make tough choices. Be a leader. Attend Safe is hear to help you embrace your duty of care.
Attend Safe’s partners know they can rely on us to attend to testing so they can attend to life with safety-conscious protocols.