Letters

Successful emergence from the coronavirus crisis will require strong leadership. We are hurting in Suffolk County, in New York State and in the country at large. People around us are getting sick, some are dying, and the numbers are growing. We do not know how many are infected, how many will become infected, or when the epidemic will end.

To be good citizens, for our safety and for the safety of others, we are told to exercise social distancing, limit in-person interactions and generally withdraw from community activities. If we are to follow these instructions and work collectively to emerge, ultimately, with the fewest casualties, effective leadership is a must.

At a more local level, our county executive, Steve Bellone, and our governor, Andrew Cuomo, understand their task at hand. They are being honest and transparent, taking such actions as banning large gatherings and closing our schools, as necessary.

But President Trump has much to learn. His failure to act during the first 60 days after the World Health Organization first learned of the Chinese outbreak are well documented. In 2018, Trump dismantled our pandemic response team at the National Security Council. This February, the United States refused to accept the coronavirus test distributed worldwide by the WHO (and we instead botched production of our own), and the president spent weeks denying the escalating crisis.

As recently as this Sunday, Trump was still insisting that the situation was under control — in total contradiction of his health expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who repeated tells the nation that the worst is yet to come.

But demonization of leadership for past mistakes is not productive. Good leadership requires empathy, honesty, transparency and the ability to admit your mistakes so that you can fix them.

This past Friday, Trump refused to admit any mistakes in the roll-out of U.S. testing for coronavirus. Such statements undermine the credibility that is necessary if we are to take Trump’s suggestions and proclamations seriously. Whether we like it or not, more people will continue to get sick and many will die from coronavirus. But the numbers who crowd our hospital beds, the number of transmissions to those most at risk, and the ultimate distribution of testing and eventually helpful drugs and a vaccine will require the cooperation and patience of all of us.

We have no choice than to follow this president’s leadership, so let us hope and demand he step up to represent us. America must unite to get to the other side of this health crisis. I believe in Americans, and I have no doubt that we will.

Perry Gershon

East Hampton

Mr. Gershon is seeking the Democratic Party nomination for the 1st District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives — Ed.