My assignment: Describe how daily life would change if a full-blown pandemic occurred on American soil. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)At the time, just 60 coronavirus infections had been confirmed in the United States, a country of 331 million people. I expected a reassuring message that what was happening in China — pop-up hospital wards and healthcare workers suffering from physical and mental exhaustion — would not occur in the United States. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)The media mantra at the time was that the United States would never resort to the “draconian” restrictions that China imposed. In that call with reporters, Messonnier left the door open for an alternate reality — one in which the overwhelming and scary process of planning for a pandemic might not be necessary.

Source: Los Angeles Times December 15, 2020 13:02 UTC