LETTER: It will take a team effort to beat this pandemic

John Pauli states in his Nov. 20 letter that “we need the federal government to contain the virus.” I agree there are certain things that we need the federal government to provide, such as leading the fight to develop a vaccine. However, the national government is not in a position to be able to make decisions about responses to the virus that are going to fit all states and all situations that may be novel to certain parts of the country.

The states can best make decisions about what kind of testing is needed and how severe their responses need to be in regard to personal protective equipment and shutting down businesses, etc.. Certain states certainly need to be more restrictive in their response, but it’s not one size fits all.

The resources of the federal government will be needed to get us through this battle, but the resources of the states are important, too. Let us expect our representatives — federal and local — to work together. We’ve all got a place in this fight, and we all have to pull together.