'We're making it up as we go along': how Trump's America failed the Covid test

Coronavirus has been allowed to run amok by governors and the president, spreading inexorably into the rural heart of America

A letter landed on the desk of the governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp, this week that given the public health catastrophe swirling all around him might give him pause. His state is one of 21 across the US that have been placed by the White House coronavirus taskforce in the red zone", indicating the disease is now so prevalent that immediate restrictions must be imposed to avoid dire consequences.

Kemp, a Republican governor and Donald Trump ally, has adopted a controversial approach to Covid-19. Since early July the virus has roared across his state, with new infections rising sharply to top a devastating tally of 182,000.