Stepping up to war footing

As the number of infections continue to rise due to COVID19, the global response has stepped up. I believe it's time that we stepped up to war footing and redirected manufacturing capacity and supply chain to addressing this global emergency.

What do I mean by stepping up to war footing:

1. Prioritizing manufacturing and supply chain capability for critical household goods and medical supplies
2. Activating our naval hospital ship assets to be ready to deploy as additional care capacity to our coastal cities
3. Activating our military assets to create field hospitals in key epicenters to provide surge capacity for our hospitals
4. Managing the response at a central & coordinated level rather than letting the states fend for themselves and establish their own rules

Make no mistake, this is a war - and one that we were warned about, but are still woefully under-prepared to fight. Without a coordinated national response to shift supplies where they are needed most and to increase / decrease capacity as needed, we run the risk of prolonging this pandemic. When this fight is over, we should think about whether to consider care capacity & associated supplies as a national strategic asset.

In concert with deploying care capacity, we also need to turbo-charge vaccine development. It's my opinion that that has already been done, and our pharmaceutical companies & regulatory agencies are on top of getting a working vaccine approved and deployed to the public.

Relevant things that have already happened (but more needed):

• Naval hospital ships: https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-military-prepares-hospital-ships-for-deployment-11584471429?mod=hp_lead_pos3
• Amazon prioritizing shipments: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/03/17/coronavirus-amazon-prioritize-shipments-high-demand-items/5066808002/

An aggressive response is needed from policymakers to address the pandemic, which in turn will right the economy. Would love to hear what others think could be done to assist in turning the tide against COVID19.