COVID-19 has now killed more than 900,000 people in the United States. We knew what needed to be done to prevent many of those deaths, but victims were unwilling to take those steps. Knowing that COVID kills ten times as many people as the flu, people still defy the evidence, science and expertise. We’ve known the consequences of erosion in government trust, but now more real evidence confirms it. It’s not hyperbole, mistrust kills people.