In liberal Atlantic mag, Brown prof calls for 'pandemic amnesty' for those who got it wrong

Libera-leaning news magazine The Atlantic has published an essay from a Brown University economist expressing regret over how the COVID-19 pandemic was occasionally handled but urging "a pandemic amnesty" for those who had the wrong response. 

Brown Professor Emily Oster wrote in essay published Monday that she has "been reflecting on this lack of knowledge" at the start of the pandemic, when many people did not know how the virus was passed or what the best response was.

"We have to put these fights aside and declare a pandemic amnesty," she wrote. "We can leave out the willful purveyors of actual misinformation while forgiving the hard calls that people had no choice but to make with imperfect knowledge."

Oster said she was criticized for her support of reopening schools, but, "We need to forgive the attacks, too. ... It wasn’t pleasant, but feelings were high."

The Atlantic is owned by The Emerson Collective, a for-profit advocacy and philanthropy group founded by Steve Jobs' widow, Laurene Powell Jobs, who has donated millions of dollars to Democratic candidates.