“I was in shock... We’re just in the second inning.”

When Michael T. Osterholm, a prominent epidemiologist, heard that the White House coronavirus task force was “ramping up” its work this month, he was elated. Maybe now the United States would finally tackle the virus with the seriousness needed.

Then he realized that he had misheard. The task force wasn’t “ramping up” but “wrapping up.”

“I was in shock,” said Osterholm, a professor at the University of Minnesota. “We’re just in the second inning.”…

It makes sense to experiment with reopening in areas with fewer infections (perhaps using randomized controlled trials to gain a better understanding of what is safe), and epidemiologists note that there’s a particularly good case to be made for reopening parks and beaches if social distancing is practiced. But we still don’t have the testing and contact-tracing to be confident that we can get the easing right or to clamp down quickly when we get it wrong.