With 4% Of The World's Population, The U.S. Accounts For 25% Of The World's COVID Deaths

President Trump in May with Gov.  Jared Polis of Colorado. Doug Mills/The New York Times

"Refusing to use a mask is like driving drunk"

(Alan: The chances are you won't get killed if you drive slightly drunk, but statistically your chances of dying soar. Although it is a hard lesson for many to learn, morality is not confined to to the calculus of one's personal conscience. Morality is also conditioned by statistics. Refusing to wear a mask can result in actual, factual perpetration of negligent homicide even though the perpetrator - you? - may never realize you were directly responsible for killing someone.)

By Nicholas Kristof Opinion Columnist

The United States, with 4 percent of the world’s population, accounts for a quarter of worldwide coronavirus deaths because we haven’t taken the virus as seriously as other countries have. And one element of taking Covid-19 seriously is wearing masks. The research shows that masks help, even if they’re not a silver bullet. My column today cites hamster evidence for that, Hong Kong evidence, economic evidence and more.

President Trump’s press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, deflects questions about the president’s refusal to wear masks by saying that it’s simply a “personal choice.” I think that’s completely wrong.

When you endanger others, that’s NOT a personal choice. And in a time of plague, I argue, refusing to wear a mask is like drunk driving. Please read. Alan: On the BBC this morning, Dr. Anthony Fauci reported that the huge discrepancey between COVID deaths in the United States and in other "developed countries" is that the strictest "shutdown measures" in the United States never exceeded 50% shutdown, whereas those countries with far fewer COVID deaths (and much faster economic recovery) routinely achieved between 90% and 97% shutdown.

The $6,408 Coronavirus Test. Step Right Up!

My colleague Sarah Kiff had an illuminating article pointing out how absurd America’s health care system is. Two friends went to get coronavirus tests together in Texas, at the same place, and both tests were negative. The difference: One paid cash and was charged $199. The other paid with insurance and was charged $6,408.

We Americans have a health care system that is dysfunctional. It rewards health care providers with creative insurance coding, not those with reliable care. And it is so expensive that we now pay roughly $10,000 per person for annual health care — a major disincentive for a company to hire someone. I hope that next year the President and Congress will provide universal medical and dental coverage — but also move toward a coherent system that doesn’t reward companies that rip off the public in this way.