A midtown Manhattan clothing store displays a “going out of business” sign on September 8, 2020. | Noam Galai/Getty Images

Things are looking better than was feared, but the case for more help is clear.

The economy is growing again, with employers adding millions of workers to payrolls per month. The unemployment rate — which briefly hit levels far higher than the worst of the Great Recession — is now falling rapidly.

Fears that economic collapse would spiral out of control after the spring shutdowns have not been realized. Even more strikingly, the fact that the United States has failed to meaningfully contain the Covid-19 pandemic is proving to be less of an impediment to economic growth than one might have thought.

Six months ago, public health experts were arguing that if the United States set up robust surveillance testing, contact tracing,