In praise of COVID.gov, Lord of the Game Changers!!! -- Revised assessment 4/6/22

Last update: Wednesday 4/6/22 

President Biden issued the following tweet on Wednesday 3/30/22: "Today, I announced a one-stop to get any and everything you need to deal with COVID ... Go to COVID.gov ... All the information is there." @POTUS

Anyone who has ever tried to find COVID information that is relevant to their specific needs has experienced the frustration of directing their browser to the CDC's home page, even to its home page for all things COVID, and not finding that info quickly, will appreciate the need for this uber page. As in the Lord of the Rings, this page is intended to be the Lord of the COVID pages: one page that rules them all, one page that finds them, one page that brings them all, and in your browser binds them ... :-)

Initial comments -- Thursday 3/31/22  

COVID.gov is a tremendous improvement over the voluminous, confusing hodgepodge of unrelated Covid pages on various federal websites that previously faced users trying to get info about tests, masks, vaccinations, etc, etc, etc. In principle, the simple URL for this "Lord of the Covid pages" should be the only URL that users will need to remember

Of course, as with the first edition of any major reorganization effort, COVID.gov contains flaws, some of which are noted in the following bullets.  

• Requirement to enter the same geographic data again and again
  The most obvious flaw is the fact that some subordinate pages in the cluster provide info to users based on their county and state, whereas other pages provide info base on zip codes. Ideally, the user would provide county/state AND zip code on  covid.gov. Thereafter this info would be pre-loaded into forms on subordinate pages that needed it. Users should be able to change preloaded data entries. Of course, users who don't let their browsers accept cookies would still encounter blank forms that required re-entry of county/state and/or zip codes again and again. 
  
  
• Weak links in the chains
  Most of the pages linked to the uber page already exist, so the uber makes it easier to find them. However, the existing pages still retain their existing flaws. For example, the CDC's "COVID-19 by County" page still gives one guidance for everyone, including persons whose households contain elderly and/or immunocompromised members. The editor of this blog gave that page a "much better, but still not good enough" rating in a previous note. Its linkage to an uber page does not overcome its existing shortfalls.
  
  
• No use cases
  A less obvious, but more significant shortfall is the absence of use cases on the uber page. For example, it's great that this page lets users quickly find drug stores that provide home tests. But many (most?) users may not know when they should test themselves. One obvious case is prior to visiting a friend, relative, or associate who is immunocompromised. The editor of this blog has included a set of important use cases on the blog's news page "Omicron Defense". He has greatly reduced the size of that news page by frequently referring its readers to COVID.gov ... but he retained the page's use cases until COVID.gov includes its own comparable set of use cases.

Revised Overall assessment ... Wednesday 4/6/22

At this point, the editor of this blog would assign a flag waving, three cheering, foot stomping grade of "A plus" to the concept of an uber page. However, the shortfalls of the existing pages linked to the uber, most importantly, the absence of use cases on the uber presses him to lower his assigned grade for the chains to a "C"

However, yesterday's proclamation by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) of the implementation of the "Test to Treat" initiative -- an initiative that President Biden announced last month in his "National COVID-⁠19 Preparedness Plan" (White House, 3/2/22) -- was a game changing surprise. It demands that the editor raise his rating back to a flag waving, three cheering, foot stomping "A plus". "Test to Treat" is a one-stop operation whose home page is linked to COVID.gov. Folks who have reason to suspect that they have been infected can now visit a nearby facility identified by an app and get tested. If they test positive, they will receive anti-viral meds right there. WHAM!

In this world nothing is perfect, so COVID.gov is not perfect; but as Secretary Clinton is fond of saying, "We can't let the perfect stand in the way of the good". COVID.gov now provides easy access to the two most powerful tools we have to control the virus: highly effective vaccines and highly effective antiviral medications. In this imperfect world, this is about as good as it gets ... :-)

• "One-stop Test to Treat",, 4/5/22

____________________________________

Links to related notes on this blog:  

• "U.S. Pandemic Who's Who ... and what's what", This news page is updated every Friday.
  
• "Omicron Defense", This news page is updated on Wednesdays and Thursdays.