Opinion: Allocate ventilators, other Covid-19 resources based on evidence, not political hunches
The emergence of Covid-19 and its worldwide spread has some of the United States’ top leaders — at least those without public health or infectious disease expertise — succumbing to speculation and calling for action based on political hunches. If policymakers really want to effectively control the spread of the virus, they need to rely on expertise and thoughtful deliberation, especially when it comes to addressing complex and nuanced questions of allocating scarce resources, ordering quarantine and isolation, and controlling infection.
As influenza, SARS, and H1N1 have taught us — and as we are now learning from Covid-19 — individuals with severe cases of these respiratory infections can experience acute respiratory distress syndrome and need to be on a ventilator to breathe. But during an overwhelming pandemic, there may not be enough ventilators to meet the demand for them. In such an emergency, an equitable and efficient way to determine which patients receive ventilators should be in place.
