Fauci, who has not spoken to the president for weeks, has contradicted Trump’s false claims that the United States is leading the world in the fight against the coronavirus. It also refuted Trump’s claim that 99% of Covid-19 cases are “totally harmless.”
Fauci’s positions have evolved with science, including his stance on masks, which he initially said were not shown to be beneficial in everyday life and should be reserved for healthcare workers. Apparently, the White House sees no irony in attacking his record when the president spent months denying that the virus was a problem, praising China for its handling and predicting a miracle that would make it go away.
And the fact that the administration is organizing a political campaign-style attack, one of its own top officials, who has been one of the nation’s most respected public health experts for decades, tells an extraordinary story about his priorities in the pandemic. .
Trump’s electoral concerns drive openness policy
Trump’s fixation on his electoral prospects and desire to ignite an economic return were behind his assurances that it was safe to facilitate orders to stay home without waiting for infection curves to flatten properly. The push was enthusiastically embraced by some Republican governors, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is now facing strong criticism as his state sees uncontrolled infection rates.
The alarming acceleration of the pandemic, with an average of new cases across the country reaching 60,000 per day, suggests that the dark days endured by New York and New Jersey months ago may not be America’s most distressing struggle with the virus.
New reports of complete intensive care units, a shortage of protective equipment for front-line medical workers, and problems with a national low-powered testing system are emerging – exactly the shortcomings that complicated the early fight against Covid-19.
Trump’s past impatience may bite him again less than four months before Election Day. Some city governors and mayors are slowing or reversing reopens. Therefore, the economic and social damage from the pandemic could last much longer than originally expected, as news of job losses in recent days indicates that permits could become permanent unemployment for thousands of Americans.
Administration requires school openings without a plan
All parents in the United States are concerned that children could be out of school for many more months, a scenario that would have serious educational, social, and economic consequences.
“The rule should be that kids go back to school this fall. And where there are little outbreaks or hot spots, they can be treated school by school or case by case,” said DeVos Dana Bash of CNN, downplaying the scale of the worst outbreak in coronavirus of a single nation in the world.
“It is definitely not safe to open schools until we reach a decent level. That is not going to happen anytime soon,” said Dr. Uché Blackstock, associate professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at NYU School of Medicine, on CNN. ” New day “Sunday.
Trump belatedly wears a mask
Meanwhile, Trump gloated in praising campaign advisers for allowing himself to appear on camera wearing a mask for the first time after months of discrediting calls from medical experts in facial covers, while more than 135,000 Americans died and more than 3 million they were infected. by the virus
The White House’s tendency to blame him spilled into a tirade by one of the president’s top business advisers, Peter Navarro, on Sunday.
“We were sailing, until the Chinese Communist Party basically hit us with that deadly virus, that armed virus. And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the first year that China had an economy in crisis was the same year now that they ‘come behind from us in many ways, “Navarro said on Fox News.
“And Joe Biden is the candidate of the Chinese Communist Party.”
Meanwhile, the Biden campaign criticized Trump’s belated adoption of the mask during a visit to wounded service members on Saturday, saying it “lost four months that Americans have been making sacrifices fueling divisions and actively discouraging people take a very basic step to protect each other. ” other. Rather, Joe Biden has led by example from the beginning. “
Florida’s new grim record
Florida, which is supposed to host the Republican National Convention next month, reported 15,299 new Covid cases on Sunday, with a test positivity rate of 19.6%. Florida Rep. Donna Shalala, a first-year Democrat and former secretary of health and human services under President Bill Clinton, said the virus was out of control partly because the governor, a Trump ally, would not tell everyone them to wear masks, adding: “This is an American tragedy,” in an interview with CNN.
About 40 Florida hospitals do not have beds available in the ICU with more than 7,000 people in hospitals across the state with Covid-19.
Another state that is suffering is Georgia, where Republican Governor Brian Kemp even angered Trump with the speed of his state openings. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms withdrew the city’s reopening to Phase One on Friday due to an alarming surge in new infections, accusing Kemp of “recklessly” opening the state.
The charts for Georgia progression rates show past sacrifices amid wasted stay-at-home orders. The new cases were flat until May and mid-June until the infection curve began to rise sharply. Texas, which also fueled a quick return to business, and reported its own one-day high in infections on Saturday of 10,351, added another 8,196 cases on Sunday.
These troubling numbers explain the growing pessimism about surprisingly strong jobs and the economic rebound in the United States in recent weeks, a reality that will shock Trump, who bought son-in-law Jared Kushner’s claims that the economy may be “shaking up” mid July long before the elections.
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