Editorial Board

Corpus Christi Caller-Times

To the city and county officials whose responsibility is to keep the public informed about coronavirus:

This is one of those times when what we don't know really can kill us. Act like you know it. The latest information will — not only can, but will — affect human behaviors that influence how fast or slow the virus spreads.

You knew that. It's why you shouldn't buy time to pretty up your message.

We point this out because you have exhibited a troubling pattern of delaying the flow of important information to the public. Two cases in point: The announcements at 4 p.m. Saturday of Corpus Christi's first confirmed coronavirus case and at 9:30 p.m. Monday of the next six in Nueces County.

WHY DELAY THIS INFORMATION?

We don't know how long you held onto these urgent pieces of news. But we know it was for too long. And, news flash, much of your constituency either has figured out or suspects that you have been holding out.

COVID-19:Nueces County officials: First coronavirus case confirmed in county

At 2:30 p.m. Saturday, the Caller-Times received notice from you about a news conference at 4 p.m. that day. We had been searching frantically for the previous hour and 15 minutes for confirmation of this 4 p.m. event because at 1:15 p.m. a tipster who doesn't work for the city or county told us about it.

The tipster's information — that there was a confirmed case and it was someone who had "traveled" — checked out in the end. So now we know that this anonymous person who doesn't work for you is more trustworthy than you. This is not a criticism for the sake of drawing blood. It's for the sake of pointing out what we are counting on you to correct, pronto. We are all in this together.

WHO ARE YOU FOOLING?

You should know it doesn't take an investigative journalist or a brain surgeon to surmise that all of you, starting at the top with Mayor Joe McComb and County Judge Barbara Canales, knew long before 1:15 p.m. Saturday of the confirmed case. Each elected official and medical professional who participated in the news conference would have been contacted, made the commitment to attend and agreed on his or her role in the ensuing choreography beforehand. That takes time.

Until Saturday's announcement, the public was left to believe — or doubt — the headline news that Corpus Christi was the largest city in the nation with no confirmed cases. Those who believed it may have been less cautious about social distancing than they would have been if they had known. That's a risk that could have been avoided by acting sooner.

The concept that we had no coronavirus cases defied common sense. The older news that our city was the largest with no confirmed cases had come with several caveats, the main one being the difference between no known cases and no cases. It was highly unlikely that Corpus Christi had no one infected or ill with the virus. We are a city of nearly 350,000 people with a port visited daily by international ships with international crews.

The most likely explanation for having no confirmed cases was that so few people here were being tested. On Saturday when the confirmed case was disclosed, it also was disclosed that 73 tests were known to have been administered. Previously, finding out how many tests were being done had proved unnecessarily difficult.

Other cities and counties, larger and smaller than ours, have provided regular updated counts of tests administered, results pending and cases confirmed. Why not ours?

More:Coronavirus: 6 test positive for COVID-19 in Nueces County; All cases are travel-related

NOTHING TO SEE HERE?

Your performance Monday was more puzzling than Saturday's. You canceled a 3 p.m. news conference only minutes beforehand, initially with no explanation. Then, when asked, your answer was that there was nothing new. That could not have been true. Nothing new means — what? No new tests conducted? In a city this size, that would have been remarkable. But of course it wasn't the case.

Then, at 9:30 p.m., half an hour before 10 p.m. television newscasts and too late for the Caller-Times' Tuesday newsprint edition, you announced 20 more tests and six more confirmed cases. How long did you hold onto that? Was it why you canceled at 3 p.m.?

Let's contrast your performance with the folks at Driscoll Children's Hospital. Driscoll disclosed to the public that an employee had exhibited symptoms, informed Driscoll and stayed home. When the test results came back negative, Driscoll immediately shared the good news. The public was better off having known all of it.

You should know by now that when you delay, people won't wait for you. They'll fill in the blanks with their imaginations or rumors they heard.

We shouldn't have to point out that, as public officials, you need the public's trust. To get it, you must earn it. The best way to earn it is to be candid early and often. Tell us what you know and how you know it, and what you don't know and why you don't know it.

This is the digital age. Send an Amber-like alert to everyone, not just news media. Follow up with the news conference.