Lessons from the Covid War

As the formal COVID-19 emergency comes to an end nationally and locally, a growing number of reports and investigative bodies are beginning to explore what went wrong and right with the country’s response to the COVID crisis. One of the most important is the COVID Crisis Group (CCG), a team of 34 experts and scholars that has tried to lay the groundwork for a National Commission on the Covid Pandemic. It is led by Phillip Zelikow, who was the executive director of the 9/11 Commission.

With no national commission in sight, in late April, the CCG will release its first major investigative report, "Lessons from the Covid War," a nonpartisan and plainspoken look at the key choices made during the pandemic, what worked, what didn’t and what we could do better next time. The comprehensive investigative report tells the story of how America’s scientific knowledge has far outpaced the country’s ability to apply it in a crisis. The report shows how Americans can come together, learn hard truths, build on what worked, and prepare for global emergencies to come.

Several high-profile local contributors to the report will speak on their new report and what else needs to be done to understand one of the greatest domestic crises the United States has faced in decades. These include Dr. Charity Dean, CEO, founder, and chairman of The Public Health Company; Dr. Robert Rodriguez, professor of clinical emergency medicine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital; Dr. David A. Relman, Thomas C. and Joan M. Merigan Professor in Medicine, and professor of microbiology & immunology, and senior fellow of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University; and our moderator, Dr. Emily Silverman, internal medicine physician and assistant volunteer professor of medicine, UCSF, and creator of The Nocturnists.