Mobilizing for war

In 1941, US auto manufacturers made 5 million cars. In 1942, they made none. Know why? Because FDR moved immediately to mobilize the massive industrial capacity of the country for war. Instead of Impalas and Fairlanes, companies made tanks, planes, ships, guns, jeeps, and all the material to fight a world war. The country planted victory gardens in back yards, and gas was rationed. By the end of 1944 we were producing (according to Doris Kearns Goodwin) a tank every 4 minutes, a plane every seven minutes and a ship every day. Our allies - especially Britain and Russia - received a large share of their weapons of war and support vehicles (especially trucks in the case of Russia) from American factories. The US built 300,000 airplanes of all types. By comparison, Germany produced 94,000 planes. Do we need this kind of mobilization of our resources today to deal with COVID-19?