Fumbling Through: The First Wave of COVID-19 Pandemic in the U.S.

We used a framework on pandemic containment strategizing to investigate how a sample of states in the US responded in the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the world and between themselves. Although limitations imposed on freedom of movement and business operations were in a mid-range, the US underperformed on some medical and enforcement policies. There were significant differences among the states. Our analyses suggests that government intervention is the key to reducing mortality. We propose a D&4T strategic process as a way of moving forward in containing this pandemic.