As a public health professional with more than 40 years public health experience, I am shocked at the slowness and lack of leadership by federal and some state government officials to combat the Covid scourge.

Recent White House guidelines for reopening our economy stipulate that reopening should not occur until widespread Covid 19 testing, contract tracing and quarantine measures are in place.

Without these essential tools, we are essentially “flying blind” in this pandemic. It does not appear that many of the states who are beginning to reopen their economies have these tools now in place.

Although the states are ground zero in this once in a lifetime battle, the federal government is best positioned to be leading the charge in maximizing the use of the Defense Production Act to make available widespread testing. States now vary widely in both their resources and ability to mount a broad-based testing program as indicated by our grossly inadequate current national level of testing which has been stuck at about 150,000 tests per day for weeks now.

Current guidelines from medical experts recommend a testing level of a minimum of 750,000 to 1 million tests per day nationwide. We are testing far below that level. Many states are now in the process of reopening their communities.

Without knowing the prevalence of the virus in each state and community through testing and without sufficient contact tracing and quarantine for persons with positive tests, the public health response will not be up to the task and could result in unnecessary and prolonged disease spread.

Few states now have the ability to do adequate contact tracing for persons who test COVID-19 positive and Alabama is no exception. We have to do better. Without these tools in place, the pandemic will be much more severe and longer lasting that it needs to be and more of our fellow citizens will die.

Claude Earl Fox III, M.D., M.P.H., former Alabama State Health Officer, Professor Emeritus, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami Founding Director, Johns Hopkins Urban Health