Final Word from Tuesday, April 21, 2020

U.S. Secretary of State Alexander Haig, a four-star general, went down in history as the man who declared, "I am in control here," when Pres. Ronald Reagan was shot on March 30, 1981. Problem was, he was wrong. Haig wasn't in control. He wasn't next in line for the presidency, nor was he officially the one in control in the White House Situation Room. Epidemiologist Rastislav Maďar, who heads the working group at the Czech health ministry that drafted the coronavirus reopening schedule, made a similar comment in Lidové noviny yesterday: "Opposition politicians must realize that they do not have responsibility for health and human life during the epidemic, and neither does the government. We epidemiologists do, and we decided to relax the restrictions at this speed. Even the prime minister told us that the responsibility will be mainly ours and that the cabinet will respect our decisions." Problem is, he is right. Epidemiologists are in control here. [ Czech Republic United States of America president ]