The Partisan Battle Over Covid-19

With almost four and a half million cases worldwide, covid-19 has swept the globe. The virus has ravaged destruction in every corner of the Earth. Without a known cure, the virus is endangering the life and health of virtually every single global citizen (Covid19 Coronavirus Tracker, 1). At this moment, the only known way to effectively limit the spread of the virus has been individual actions, including  social distancing measures. However, the United States poses a unique challenge to these measures. Throughout the country, a partisan battle has emerged over how to best deal with the virus. In a time when individuals actions can dramatically shift the spread of the virus, it is imperative to have a unified collective effort while fighting the virus (Roberts, 1). Collective action in fighting the virus within the United States has been hindered by political differences and has limited the effective response capability of our nation.

A simple study of  media coverage surrounding the pandemic has illustrated this partisanship battle. In a survey conducted by Pew Research Center, the news outlet that one follows has a large impact on the opinions that they form concerning the outbreak. Comparing the information that MSNBC, a traditionally liberal news outlet, and Fox, traditionally a conservative news source, certain beliefs of viewers reveal this disparity. While 66% of MSNBC viewers believe that the virus came about naturally, only 37% of regular Fox News viewers would argue the same. Furthermore, 78% of MSNBC viewers while 51 % of Fox viewers believe that a vaccine will be available in a year or more (Jurkowitz and Mitchell, 2).  Each news outlet has created and voiced their own understanding of the pandemic and thus viewers of each news outlet have different perceptions of what the reality of the global pandemic is. Even the basic dispersion of information, which is incredibly important is moments of crisis, has a partisan undertone to it. 

Partisanship influences almost every other aspect of life in the United States, but with the arrival of covid-19 to our shores, it has also infiltrated the world of science and medicine. While both parties have agreed that a range of restrictions are necessary to control the spread of the virus, the basic understanding of the danger of covid-19 differs amongst the two parties. As of late March, 78% of Democrats stated that the virus is a major threat to the well-being of the U.S. population while 52% of Republicans would say the same, representing a vast 26% spread (Green and Tyson, 1). More recently, the Democratic-held House of Representatives has refused to hold session together in Washington DC due to the warnings from the Congressional Doctor, Dr. Brian P. Monahan (Cochrane, 1).Meanwhile, the Republican-held Senate has gone against the same warnings and choose to proceed with nominations and sessions, while maintaining social distancing protocol (Cochrane and Fandos, 1-3).The disparity between these decisions brings to light the different approaches to the virus that each party maintains. In order for the United States to move towards progress, true collaboration and coordination must take place. Political leaders need to come to agreement on how to safely and effectively combat the virus in order to set an example for the rest of the country. An overall agreement on the level of threat that covid-19 presents to the U.S. public is critical to ensuring a productive and collaborative response nationwide.  

These conflicting views of the virus complicate efforts to combat the virus as a united nation. The differences in the basic understandings of the danger assessment of the virus have spilled over, causing disjointed crisis management across the country. Effectively limiting the spread of covid-19 requires every member of a community to practice social distancing measures and political affiliation should not impact health attitudes. Unfortunately, political affiliation has manifested itself in the behaviors of individuals. Democrats have reported adopting social distancing behaviors at a higher rate than Republicans (Kushner, Goodman, and Pepinsky, 5). Among reported behaviors, Democrats note washing hands more, avoiding contact with others and gathering information on covid-19 at a higher rate than Republicans (Kushner, Goodman, and Pepinsky, 5). This behavior coincides with each parties’ belief about the danger that the virus presents to the country. However, discrepancies in the support of certain covid-19 legislation reveals true partisanship. The Republican party has been much more supportive of re-opening measures in order to jumpstart the economy and save jobs within the United states. However, Republicans are more likely to support policies that would halt the spread of covid-19 across borders through immigration and travel bans, demonstrative of the conservative belief in strict immigration laws. While Democrats report practicing higher levels of social distancing measures, they are less likely to support a delay in elections until the virus has passed. As they seek to remove Republican leadership from power as soon as possible, their political agenda does not allow for this delay (Kushner, Goodman, and Pepinsky, 5). Even in approaching a global pandemic, political leaders allow for their own political agenda to overcome what has been proven to be effective for public health. These actions and attitudes are a result of a deep partisan divide, a divide that cannot even be overcome during a global pandemic. 

In a time where partisan conflict has entered almost every aspect of life, there is no surprise that it has infiltrated the medical field. However, this partisanship must be set aside in order to effectively combat the virus. Leaders must collaborate to create public health strategies that transcend political differences. News outlets must present unbiased facts surrounding the virus, blanket social distancing policies must be promoted at all levels of government, and people need to see public health as a medical issue, and not a partisan topic. These attitude and behavioral adjustments would allow for the U.S. to benefit our own society, but also set a global example during this chaotic and unprecedented time. Individual actions taken have the incredible ability to limit the spread of the virus, when done in a productive and collective manner. 


Works Cited:

Cochrane, Emily. “Doctor to Congress and Supreme Court Toils to Sidestep Politics Amid Pandemic.” The New York Times. The New York Times, May 16, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/16/us/politics/congress-doctor-virus-brian-monahan.html. pg 1

Cochrane, Emily, and Nicholas Fandos. “Under Pressure, House Leaders Scrap Plans for Speedy Return to the Capitol.” The New York Times. The New York Times, April 28, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/28/us/politics/house-return-coronavirus.html. pg 1 -3

“COVID-19 Coronavirus Tracker – Updated as of May 15.” The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, May 15, 2020. https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/fact-sheet/coronavirus-tracker/. pg 1

Green, Ted Van, and Alec Tyson. “5 Facts about Partisan Reactions to COVID-19 in the U.S.” Pew Research Center. Pew Research Center, April 2, 2020. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/04/02/5-facts-about-partisan-reactions-to-covid-19-in-the-u-s/. pg 1

 Jurkowitz, Mark, and Amy Mitchell. “Cable TV and Coronavirus: How Americans Perceive the Outbreak and View Media Coverage Differ by Main News Source.” Pew Research Center's Journalism Project. Pew Research Center , April 24, 2020. https://www.journalism.org/2020/04/01/cable-tv-and-covid-19-how-americans-perceive-the-outbreak-and-view-media-coverage-differ-by-main-news-source/. pg 2

Kushner Gadarian, Shana and Goodman, Sara Wallace and Pepinsky, Thomas B., Partisanship, Health Behavior, and Policy Attitudes in the Early Stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic, SSRN, March 27, 2020. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3562796 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3562796  pg 5

Roberts, David. “Partisanship Is the Strongest Predictor of Coronavirus Response.” Vox. Vox, March 31, 2020. https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2020/3/31/21199271/coronavirus-in-us-trump-republicans-democrats-survey-epistemic-crisis. pg 1