Infrastructure Week, But for the Pandemic
If Congress wants to pass legislation in response to omicron, it should focus on the next pandemic, not the current one.
What’s the long-term plan for school lunch during a pandemic?
Photographer: Jon Cherry/Bloomberg
In a rare moment of bipartisan comity in Washington, Democratic leaders are considering a supplemental appropriation bill to address public-health issues related to the omicron variant — and Republicans aren’t opposed to the idea. It’s an encouraging sign, but Congress should be focusing on the next pandemic, not the current one.
The speed at which omicron is moving — cases are already declining in New York — underscores the reality that backward-looking relief legislation is misguided. If Congress wants to take further action to address the pandemic, it ought to invest money in forward-looking ideas to prevent and contain future pandemics.