Having just completed a week-long visit to the Congo, I was struck by how well it has established protocols for managing Covid-19 when compared to the US . The comparison is a testament to how well most other countries in the world are managing the spread of the pandemic versus how poorly the US continues to do so. There are many lessons to be learned in the process. During my stay in Kinshasa, everyone I came into contact with wore masks. Before I could enter my hotel, my temperature was taken, and I was required to use hand sanitiser and to walk through an enclosed space where a mist of disinfectant was sprayed on me – every time I entered the hotel. Every government or commercial building I entered checked my temperature, and I had to sanitise my hands. Some also sprayed me with disinfectant, like in the hotel. Contrast this experience with what is commonplace in America. In my state of Connecticut, although there has been a mandatory mask law since April, some people choose to wear them and others do not. Nationally, of course, there is great variation about the official approach to mask wearing . Some establishments offer hand sanitiser, others do not. I have never seen a disinfectant spray being used anywhere on entering a commercial establishment. Virtually no one’s temperature is checked before entering. I was required to obtain a Covid-19 test three days before boarding the plane to Kinshasa. If I had tested positive, I would not have been allowed to board the flight. On the flight (on Turkish Airlines), our temperature was taken before we boarded, masks were required on the flight, and anyone who did not wear a mask was sternly told to do so. Upon arrival in Kinshasa, I had to prove that I had taken the test, providing the written result to authorities before being allowed to collect my bags. Contrast this with my experience returning to the US. I was not required to take a Covid-19 test in advance of boarding the plane, and there was no enforcement of the mask-wearing rule on the plane. On arrival, I was not asked any questions about where I had been, whether I had been tested, or whether I had any symptoms. No one at the airport even took my temperature. I was allowed to simply pass through customs and passport control as if I were invisible – six months after this pandemic erupted. In Istanbul and Kinshasa, the result of Covid-19 tests are available within 24 hours – for anyone with or without symptoms; in America, it can take up to a week and most states require that one has symptoms before being permitted the privilege of taking a test. In Turkey and the Democratic Republic of Congo, there is a single, mandatory, unified response to combating the virus; in America, it might as well be 50 different countries. Congo has about 10,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and a little more than 200 official deaths – in a country of more than 90 million people. America has nearly 6 million cases and at least 179,000 deaths. Some of the difference is no doubt attributable to the multiple battles with Ebola that the Congo has fought. Its citizens are used to wearing masks and doubling down on good public hygiene. If this poor country with extremely limited resources can get it right, there should be absolutely no reason America cannot and will not. America’s approach to “managing” this virus is a failure at the federal, state and local levels – at great cost to the nation and the rest of the world. In this battle of a lifetime, Americans should demand more from their government, and from themselves. The Congo understands well that good Covid-19 protocol is for the good of each individual, each community and the nation. America can learn a lot from the Congo and countries like it that take this fight seriously and are winning the battle. Daniel Wagner is CEO of Country Risk Solutions and author of the new book The Chinese Vortex