One of the world's most prestigious medical journals, the Lancet, tacitly called for new presidential leadership in the United States in an editorial published on Thursday.
"Americans must put a president in the White House come January, 2021, who will understand that public health should not be guided by partisan politics," the authors wrote.
They strongly condemned actions by the Trump administration that they say "chipped away" at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's capacity to combat Covid-19.
"The (CDC), the flagship agency for the nation's public health, has seen its role minimised and become an ineffective and nominal adviser in the response to contain the spread of the virus," the authors said.
They criticized the Trump administration for leaving "an intelligence vacuum" in China by cutting back CDC staff in the country just as Covid-19 began to emerge, and pointed to an instance where a prominent CDC doctor was sidelined from news briefings after warning the US to prepare for major disruptions due to the virus.
They also accused the Trump administration of "punishing the agency by marginalising and hobbling it" after it failed to produce high-quality diagnostic tests early in the outbreak.
"This requires an effective national public health agency," the authors said.