As far as politics goes, it's a pretty bad situation for the current admin because you're damned if you do, damned if you don't. If this had happened in a non-election year then things would have probably been handled differently. It was a situation where they wanted to minimize the economic impact to the country and not cause mass panic, yet, at the same time, not be responsible for a lot of loss of life, knowing that the other side will use it as a political weapon. It was a hands-off type of approach so they wouldn't have to take all the blame and they could instead blame State and Local leaders. We'll see how it plays out on election night I guess.