Early on during [last] Wednesday’s White House briefing on the coronavirus outbreak, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar stressed an important and accurate point. “[W]hat every one of our experts and leaders have been saying for more than a month now remains true: The degree of risk has the potential to change quickly, and we can expect to see more cases in the United States,” the cabinet secretary explained.
Shortly thereafter, the CDC’s Anne Schuchat added that while the United States currently has “low levels” of confirmed coronavirus cases, “we do expect more cases.”
And then it was Donald Trump’s turn, at which point Americans heard their president say largely the opposite.
“[W]hen you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that’s a pretty good job we’ve done.”
It wasn’t exactly George W. Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” moment, but Trump’s unscripted comments were certainly its rhetorical cousin.
The number of coronavirus cases continues to climb in the U.S. The new disease has killed six people in the country, four from one nursing home near Seattle and two others in the same county. The cluster of deaths at the nursing facility in King County highlights the serious threat the disease poses to the elderly and infirm. There were just over 100 cases in 15 states as of Tuesday morning, with New Hampshire and Georgia being the most recent to join the battle against the virus.
As the head of the World Health Organization announced new estimates suggesting the disease was far more lethal overall than previously suspected — but also less transmissible — schools and hospitals across the U.S. stepped up preparations for a potential pandemic.
While officials acknowledge the threat posed by the virus, both the Trump administration and the World Health Organization continue to say it’s a manageable threat.
The top government economists from the U.S. and the world’s six other biggest economies held a conference call Tuesday and then pledge to do everything in their power to mitigate the impact of the virus — and fears of it — on global economies. Shortly thereafter, the Fed lowered its benchmark interest rate by half a point.
Globally, outbreaks in South Korea, Italy, Iran and Japan have continued growing fast, but draconian control measures in epicenter country China appeared to be paying off. China’s daily rate of new infections continued to fall Tuesday, showing it is possible to contain the disease, even in the hardest-hit communities.
But with more than 90,000 people infected and 3,100 killed by COVID-19, exactly what measures can and should be implemented to rein in the virus in societies less-strictly controlled than China remained unclear. As WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday, “we are in uncharted territory.”
It is certainly uncharted territory, especially since the government is acting like Keystone Kops and we are led by a mendacious imbecile.
It is documented that Trump has been frantically trying to downplay this crisis for his own political reasons.
That’s obviously happening all over the government, including the public health officials who are clearly required to fluff and fete Trump before they say anything.