Vivek Murthy

is that mental health challenges arise in the form of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, but they don't disappear when the last house is rebuilt or the last piece of debris is cleared.

In fact, they often persist for months and sometimes even years afterward.

And so that means as we think about our healthcare workers and other frontline workers, we've got to make sure that we have the mental health services for them.

The last thing I'll say about frontline workers, it's not a specific policy that we need to take, but it's more about a trust or a compact that we have to build between government and frontline workers.

I believe that in moments like this, and frankly, in between moments like this, that the government's job is to support people and that people's job is to support each other.

right?

By that measure, I see people all around America upholding their end of the bargain.

People are stepping up to take care of each other.

They're dropping food off at the house of neighbors.

They're calling and checking in on friends.

People are stepping up.

From a government perspective, I think we've got a lot that's swinging in the positive direction.

But I think we've fallen short in terms of implementation.

And I think we're seeing that in terms of where the struggles that

our frontline workers are having not just with PPE, but also with testing.

We need every healthcare worker to be able to get tested regardless of symptoms.

We do not have that capacity yet, and that is a profound problem.

And when we fall short, we damage trust.

When we damage trust, then people are less willing to follow directives in the future.

They trust less that you're going to be there for them.