Amid death and politics, can we deal with public health emergencies better?

Is it a real “public health emergency” if the state doesn’t do anything to deal with it? Maybe that question is a little silly in light of the still very high levels of coronavirus cases, and far too many of our unvaccinated neighbors still desperately ill in hospitals.

In legal and governmental terms, however, many of us appear to have ditched masks and other precautions, we’re still in a state of emergency in the Pelican State.

Can we do this better in the future when this kind of plague happens again?

We believe Gov. John Bel Edwards has done a terrific job in the difficult and oft-changing circumstances of the past two years. Navigating the rules for a pandemic on the fly was hard work for everybody, including two presidents and a host of other players, not least heroic leaders in hospitals and public health agencies.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell in New Orleans also faced the first outbreak in her city directly and strongly, as did other leaders in Louisiana. But some fell into the political traps over time, failing to grasp the importance of curbing outbreaks.

It wasn’t easy, and no less than five surges suggest that we as a society didn’t always make the correct choices at various times.

Officially, the governor extended his emergency orders unto March 16, but “without any remaining required mitigation measures.”

“I hope we never go back to the kind of strict mitigation measures needed before the vaccines,” he said.

Seems odd but does make sense. It’s not as if there aren’t real coronavirus challenges all around. Federal rules on masking and social distancing still apply on public transit and in medical facilities, and Cantrell is sticking with New Orleans’ mask and vaccine/testing requirements through at least Mardi Gras. The governor used his announcement of the state extension to reiterate good advice about protecting oneself and one’s family and neighbors against a still-virulent disease. Above all, vaccinations, at which Louisiana still lags.

If we’re not out of the pandemic, we’re out of the most rigorous public mandates. And maybe that’s a good time for the state to give some thought to the next time.

Doubtless there will be a national commission or committee of some sort to look at lessons of this horrible experience.

But every state, including Louisiana, also ought to look at its laws and procedures in light of all this. Some experts have said that America’s patchwork of requirements from state and local leaders, the kind of federalism that we believe important to good government, didn’t serve us well in the pandemic.

Maybe that should be a big-picture discussion for the national commission, but in Louisiana, the GOP-led Legislature stumbled around during the crisis. Edwards, a Democrat, vetoed several bills aimed at restricting his authority to make the difficult and unpopular decisions that were necessary.

The Legislature did not show itself particularly thoughtful in that, but now is a time when looking more deeply into our laws and regulations could be useful. Not only academics but good-government groups like the Public Affairs Research Council and the Council for a Better Louisiana should be involved. Business groups also need to be in the room, because of the real suffering in small businesses during the past two years.

With the last, we’re still dealing with commercial disruption, inflation and shipping challenges from the pandemic. As the governor’s new order implies, it’s still with us.

But let’s think of how to handle it better next time, for there is almost bound to be another emergency at some point.