A small point:
Instead of drafting the private sector early on to develop tests, as South Korea did, U.S. health officials relied, as is customary, on test kits prepared by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, some of which proved faulty. Then, sticking to its time-consuming vetting procedures, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration didn’t approve tests other than the CDC’s until Feb. 29, more than five weeks after discussions with outside labs had begun.
Government as an efficient way to do things, eh?
As when, after Hurricane Katrian, the Federal Emergency Management Agency blocked aid from reaching New Orleans until properly certified. Doctors wanting to minister to victims had to mail in credentials and await certification. Dubya was pilloried (by the same crowd now ridiculing Trump) for standing behind his FEMA chief. The process itself, no one criticized.
Any time we turn to government for emergency action, all we do is give it a monopoly over it (and an incentive to make more things emergencies, such as a worldwide outbreak of an easily transmitted but mild chest cold).