More than 37,000 new cases of Covid-19 were reported Thursday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The numbers replaced the previous darkest day of the pandemic, April 24. The new data suggests that the sacrifices made by the tens of millions of Americans who stayed home, which cost many of them their job, may have been in vain. It also suggests that the aggressive state reopens championed by Trump, who wants a quick economic restart to boost his re-election hopes, exacerbated a situation that now appears to be out of control in a swath of southern states.
A total of 30 states now report an increase in new daily cases of the new coronavirus, while others continue to establish new registries in each 24-hour period. And while the president lives in a bubble of his own obsessive political disputes and the embrace of conservative media that rarely concentrates on the virus, the reality of a pandemic that may still be in its infancy is beginning to squeeze your world.
But senior government public health officials have largely faded from the scene in recent weeks, as Trump has tried to send a message that the United States has “prevailed” over the virus and is reopening.
Across the country, as California struggles through a terrible time, Disneyland has put its reopening plans on hold, a symbolic illustration of the plight of an entire state, and indeed a nation that has seen leisure and frivolity disappear amid the worst internal crisis since World War II.
There are more signs that the rocket-like economic recovery that Trump has been projecting is also not materializing. White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Thursday that unemployment could drop below 10% by the end of the year, meaning it would still be at a high level when Trump faces re-election in November. And U.S. retail giant Macy’s announced that it would cut about 3,900 jobs as part of a restructuring effort amid an economic crisis that Trump’s prompt denial of the pandemic and its mismanagement when it arrived in the U.S. It may have exacerbated.
However, on Thursday, Trump boarded Air Force One for the third time in five days for a trip across the country, to change the state of Wisconsin, which violated his own government’s guidelines on wearing masks and the social estrangement, and that in itself was a massive departure from the national construction tragedy that the president seems determined to ignore, as it contradicts his grand comeback narrative that he is determined to use for his reelection campaign.
The president predicted that the US would have a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year, against the advice of most scientific experts. And sometimes, he seemed to play an almost farewell note, as he made meandering arguments about his rival’s mental ability.
“I mean, the man cannot speak,” Trump said. “And he will be its president because some people don’t like me, maybe.”
Biden, who is taking advantage of Trump’s failures in the pandemic to try to oust him after a single term, previously criticized the president’s behavior.
“He is like a child who cannot believe this has happened to him. All his whining and self-pity. Well, this pandemic did not happen to him. It happened to all of us. And his job is not to complain about it, his job is to do something. about it. Lead, “Biden said.
Texas Problem Encapsulates Growing National Crisis
The widening chasm between Trump’s version of the United States and the reality of a nation that falls back into a grueling fight with the disease after a hopeful period in early May and June raises the question of how long the president can continue to ignore the situation. This is especially the case when even his allies, such as Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott, are now admitting that they are dealing with a serious problem. In places like Texas, crowding hospital wards and intensive care units, which in a few weeks, given the normal course of the disease, could lead to higher death rates, contradicts optimistic conversations by politicians and especially Trump’s fictional narrative that The worst is past.
“It’s pretty serious,” Dr. Peter Hotez, professor and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
“We have a tremendous amount of community transmission. If you look at the curve of the numbers going up, it’s following what we call an exponential curve, which initially seems flat, and then accelerates very sharply, almost vertically. And that’s where we are now.” Hotez added.
Abbott hoped to follow an opening plan that expected the state to return to normal by July 4.
“The last thing we want to do as a state is go back and close business. This temporary pause will help our state corner the spread until we can safely enter the next phase of opening our state for business,” said Abbott.
The bad news that contradicts Trump’s optimistic version of a post-Covid America is not limited to Texas. The Arizona governor said Thursday that the state’s reopening plans are now “on hold” as a result of a significant increase in coronavirus cases. Republican Governor Doug Ducey said Arizona will not withdraw its plans to reopen trade, but will require companies to follow the rules of social distancing that are still in effect. “If they decide not to, there will be responsibility and there will be compliance.”
In California, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom warned that he would delay the state’s opening if hospitals strained when his state announced another 5,000 infections. In Ohio, Republican Governor Mike DeWine implicitly rejected Trump’s justification for the increased infections. “We have increased the evidence, but we do not believe that this increase in cases is entirely due to the evidence,” DeWine said, confirming that hospitalizations have increased.
Mississippi set its biggest single-day rise in new coronavirus infections on Thursday. There are now at least 30 states reporting an increase in new cases in the past week. Of those states, 13% report an increase of 50% or more.
“I don’t think it will change where it is in the masks”
The worsening picture still doesn’t convince Republican leaders to require their constituents to wear masks, which appears to be a leap too far.
“I urge all Texans to do their part to help contain the spread by washing their hands regularly, wearing a mask and practicing social distancing,” said Abbott, one of several Republican leaders who exhort people to wear masks, but who they will not. He orders the move, which some conservatives argue is a violation of his personal rights, despite evidence that many people ignore medical advice.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is another member of that group, despite the fact that he usually wears a mask while navigating Capitol Hill. “I think that is what people should do. And that is what we are doing in the Senate and what I am advising other people to do,” the Kentucky Republican told reporters on Thursday.
Many Americans have an innate and genuine government skepticism that demands that they do anything. That is why Trump could provide such a valuable role by demonstrating the use of masks. But the president, despite his legendary appeal to his base, often seems reluctant to use that political capital and convince his supporters to change his behavior.
One of Trump’s closest political friends, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, is not holding his breath for a change of heart by Trump.
“Listen, I don’t think it’s going to change where he meets the masks. But he could, I don’t know,” said Graham.
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