ABSTRACT
From the Introduction: America's ability to survive the COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic depends on our ability to protect the health of our citizens while we simultaneously sustain the critical infrastructure sectors that support our economy, and ultimately, the American way of life. The current debate between 'lives' and 'livelihood' is a false choice for the American public. If America, as a world leader, chooses to balance these challenges effectively, then through science and evidence best practices, both considerations can be served responsibly, consistently, and methodically across our sectors of critical infrastructure. In the process, the nation can emerge from the pandemic stronger and more resilient to threats from future natural or man-made infectious diseases. Until the risk of spreading infection can be mitigated, an unintended but very real side effect of our actions is the paralysis of our economy and the threat to our nation's ability to sensibly sustain and reopen critical infrastructure sectors. However, like all threats, COVID-19 presents a unique opportunity to manage the dilemma of the current pandemic, and actually build a stronger, more resilient nation going forward.COVID-19 (Disease);Disaster recovery;Critical infrastructure;Air defenses