Tony's Diary Package — page 218

March, the White House largely delegated the subsequent response to states -- forcing governors to end up bidding against each other for supplies and resources, and fueling broader chaos. But in famously fractious Italy, after some initial confusion over who was in charge, national leadership devised a more centralized plan that regional governors could follow. In Germany, lawmakers gave the federal government emergency authority to impose health measures across the 16 states. Likewise, the European Union leaders in Brussels ultimately convinced national capitals to stop hoarding medical supplies, coordinate border closures and start discussing the appropriate standards for ending lockdowns well in advance. The European countries' response hasn't been seamless. Spain was initially hamstrung by Madrid's failure to get its fractious regions in line, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel has faced her own challenges from unhappy regional leaders. But up-front coordination and quick decisions paid dividends across the monthslong crisis, experts said. "That central cohesive role of a federal government has been lacking in the United States. In a way, the U.S. has hamstrung itself." Alexandra Phelan of Georgetown's Center for Global Health Science and Security "One of the strengths about a federation or a nation is that you can centralize priorities and goods like acquiring personal protective equipment, or policies like when to test for coronavirus," said Alexandra Phelan of Georgetown's Center for Global Health Science and Security. "That central cohesive role of a federal government has been lacking in the United States," Phelan added. "In a way, the U.S. has hamstrung itself." Another significant difference: how national leaders abroad publicly incorporated the advice of their top health advisers, even as Trump often undermined the messages of experts like infectious disease doctor Anthony Fauci -- sometimes as they shared the same stage. "Countries that have had good understanding between political leaders and public health leaders have done the best," said David Heymann, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine who led the global response to the SARS outbreak in 2003. He pointed to Germany as a good example, where its public health institute "has been a constant adviser to the government, and the government has taken the information and used it."