Breaking Trust: How Covid-19 Communication Failures Undermined Public Confidence in US Health Officials-A Narrative Review.

National polling shows US citizens increasingly distrust those tasked with making our public health decisions. This dilemma appears to have been driven in part by evolving policy recommendations, communications from health officials and medical agencies that were confusing to some, and seemingly hypocritical behavior among US political leaders during the Covid-19 pandemic. The following review provides a chronological timeline of multiple pandemic-era events as well as communication and behavior missteps potentially responsible for the growing public distrust. It also suggests possible solutions to ameliorate the problem going forward.