While celebrating better-than-expected economic figures at the White House on Thursday, President Trump admitted that the coronavirus outbreak was not over, but insisted “we are putting out the fires.”
It is more like a wildfire.
The president appears to be in denial as the country accumulates a record number of confirmed cases every day, with 50,000 reported on Wednesday. Although Trump has continued to blame the increased workload on the increased evidence, a higher percentage of the tests are testing positive than before, a clear sign that more people are getting sick.
Florida reported more than 10,000 new cases Thursday, with nearly 17% of the tests testing positive. Arizona had more than 3,300, with a 25% positive.
The latest daily Texas figures showed 8,076 new cases. Almost 14% of tests in the past few days have found an infection.
More tests are also giving positive results in California; The state is experiencing a surge in new cases after restrictions on restaurants and public gatherings were relaxed.
The death toll across the country, which exceeds 128,000, has yet to accelerate: Deaths often take a few weeks behind infections. In several states, hospital officials fear being invaded by patients who need critical care, much the same as what New York experienced earlier this year when it was the epicenter of the country’s pandemic.
But Trump told Fox Business on Wednesday that “we are going to be very good with the coronavirus” and “at some point that will just go away.”
And on Thursday she described the coronavirus as more of a nuisance than a crisis, and chose to be a cheerleader for a nascent economic resurgence that public health experts believe is contributing to the increase in workload.
“We have not yet fully succeeded. We will, soon. We haven’t killed all the viruses yet, “Trump said during a White House event celebrating American companies.
Trump did not answer questions Thursday, but Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said the administration did not regret paying attention to getting people back to work.
“There is a sure way to reopen the economy, and we will do it carefully,” he said.
Dr. Eric Toner, principal investigator for the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Safety, disagreed.
“It is very clear that the increased workload is due to premature relaxation of containment measures,” he said. “Some states did not wait for all the metrics; they didn’t wait for testing and contact tracing to be done, and they opened too quickly. “
“We could have safely reopened the economy. But we didn’t, “added Toner.
The increasing number of infections in the United States contrasts sharply with the European Union, which has seen cases drop.
“Many of our peer nations around the world have come to the other side of this by adhering to the most rigorous public health principles,” said Howard Koh, a professor at Harvard University and a former health official in the President Obama administration. . “But in our case, unfortunately, we have 50 states that follow 50 different directions, and no national strategy in a clear national crisis.”
Public health experts are sounding the alarms in Washington, even if Trump doesn’t seem to be listening. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, stated earlier this week that “we clearly are not in full control at this time.”
He warned that there could be 100,000 new cases every day, double the current numbers, if the increase in infections doesn’t stop. The death toll, he said, “is going to be very disturbing, I guarantee it.”
A Gallup follow-up poll released Thursday found that Americans are increasingly distressed by the pandemic, with 65% of adults believing the situation is getting worse, compared to 48% the previous week and 37% from the previous week.
The survey indicated that 56% of adults are very or somewhat worried about contracting the virus, which means that the level of fear has recovered to what was seen in April.
The mounting crisis contrasts with Trump’s victorious pronouncements earlier this year. Announcing guidelines to loosen restrictions on companies and public meetings on April 16, he said: “We have exceeded the peak in new cases.”
It was a sentiment shared by Jared Kushner, son-in-law and senior adviser to the President. He told Fox News on April 29 that “the hope is that by July, the country will really swing again.”
Instead, states are now beginning to curb plans to allow indoor dining and other activities that make the virus more likely to spread.
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, a Republican, ordered bars, gyms, and movie theaters closed for most of the month. Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis said people should avoid crowds and closed spaces, stressing that “the smaller the group, the better.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, also a Republican, announced Thursday that all residents should wear masks in public in any county with at least 20 cases of coronavirus, and recently said that residents should take refuge on site whenever possible.
“The spread is so widespread right now that there is never a reason for you to have to leave your home,” Abbott told a local television station last week. “Unless you need to go out, the safest place for you is your home.”
Vice President Mike Pence took the lead role in the administration’s response to the renewed crisis, organizing press conferences with the coronavirus task force and traveling to hot spots.
“We can meet at this time. We can curb the spread, ”Pence said in Tampa on Thursday. “We can flatten the curve in Florida just like in other parts of the country.”
Trump has been absent from his administration’s coronavirus-focused events, perhaps a positive development, given his tendency to promote unproven cures or false science during televised events.
But it’s also a missed opportunity to use his bully pulpit to focus the country’s attention on fighting the virus, and he continues to send mixed signals about his own administration’s guidelines.
After ruling out the need for masks, even recently suggesting that a journalist wearing a mask was only making it “politically correct,” Trump told Fox Business on Wednesday that he was “all for the masks.”
Although he avoided being photographed with a mask, Trump said he had already put one on and that “he looked like the Lone Ranger.”
However, Trump plans to go to a July 4 celebration with fireworks on Friday in Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota, where the state’s Republican governor said masks and social distancing are not required.
Trump’s job approval ratings have plummeted over the course of the outbreak, and the changing geography of the pandemic could increasingly jeopardize his reelection chances.
The first hot spots were in states where the president had little chance of winning in November, such as New York, New Jersey, California, and Washington. Now, some of the worst outbreaks occur on battlefields like Florida, Arizona, and Texas.
Democrats have already been gaining ground in Arizona, even before the peak of the coronavirus.
“It’s going to take a bad situation and make it worse,” said Mike Noble, a Phoenix-based pollster. “People are starting to sour with leadership as it gets more out of control.”
The virus also appears to be hiding the Trump campaign. Some staff members preparing for their return in Tulsa, Oklahoma on June 20 tested positive. And Herman Cain, a conservative commentator who attended the event, announced Thursday that he had tested positive for the virus and was in an Atlanta-area hospital.
It was unclear if Cain was infected while at the rally, but he was photographed there unmasked and sitting shoulder to shoulder with other Trump supporters.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, the alleged Democratic candidate, has a double-digit lead in national polls and also leads in several changing states.
“Until this president faces what is happening in this country, the economy will remain at risk,” Biden said at a live event from his home in Delaware.
“The pandemic is getting worse, not better.”
