Covid White House cases contradict Trump’s message about openness

05/11/2020 Health, World



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The latest developments raise an essential question: If people close to Trump are not protected from the virus in the safest workplace in the country, how can it be safe for someone else to return to work?

It is not, and Trump knows it. He worries that helpers who contract the virus will weaken his message that the outbreak is fading, according to a person who spoke to him. He was asked why his aides were not ordered to wear masks before this week, according to the person, despite the fact that this is the example he himself has given. And Trump has told people he doesn’t want to be around anyone who hasn’t been examined, according to the person who spoke to the president, CNN’s Kevin Liptak reported.

But most Americans, whom Trump hopes will help open up the economy that is so crucial to his reelection campaign, will not have access to the aggressive repeat testing and contact tracing now taking place in the White House. . Trump has argued that the evidence should rely primarily on the governors to solve. It has also repeatedly downplayed the importance of testing, though experts say establishing virus penetration and preventing further waves of infection as normal life begins to resume is critical.

The discovery of the virus in Trump’s inner sanctuary comes at a time when the White House has stopped offering medical and scientific information to the public in televised public briefings, increasing the impression that it wants to get away from the crisis, even when infections are increasing in many opening states.
Amid the worst public health crisis in 100 years, officials like Dr. Deborah Birx and Dr. Anthony Fauci have become much less visible. The briefings of the coronavirus task force have been replaced by media monitoring sessions by the new White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany.

However, Trump and so far unidentified senior administration officials are expected to hold a press conference on the evidence on Monday afternoon.

The administration sent its top economic officials to Sunday talk shows to tackle catastrophic unemployment data, rather than its public health experts. That left economic advisers like Larry Kudlow and Kevin Hassett answering questions about testing and workplace safety, topics they have no scientific experience with.

Former President Barack Obama criticized Trump’s handling of the pandemic late last week, if not intentionally publicly. He called the Trump administration’s coronavirus response “an absolute chaotic mess” during a private call Friday night with alumni of his administration.
Meanwhile, the president spent the weekend enraged by Russia’s investigation and making false claims on Twitter about electoral fraud, pausing to tweet congratulations to himself on his handling of the virus.

Self-quarantine health officials

Three senior public health officials, the Director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Robert Redfield, the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Stephen Hahn, and Fauci, the chief disease expert infectious diseases of the country, they are entering total or partial quarantine. His decisions follow diagnosis by Trump’s personal valet and vice president Mike Pence’s press secretary, Katie Miller, last week.
Stephen Miller, Trump’s top adviser and husband of Katie Miller, will also stay away from the White House in the immediate future, according to the New York Times. It tested negative on Friday, the Times reported.

But the decision by the president and other top officials not to follow suit after coming into contact with colleagues infected with Covid-19 offers a bad example for other Americans. Trump has also not appeared in public wearing a face mask. Trump is concerned that wearing a mask may compromise his reopening message.

Despite his exposure to Miller, Pence decided not to go into quarantine, according to his spokesman Devin O’Malley, who said the vice president would follow medical advice and that “he has tested negative every day and plans to be at the White House tomorrow. “

Given the narrow nature of the west wing, which makes social distancing almost impossible, the fear is that more Covid-19 cases will emerge.

This reality potentially raises national security concerns if Trump and Pence become infected. The White House outbreak also highlights questions about how carefully the White House has followed its own advice on social alienation and the use of face masks to prevent the spread of the virus. On Saturday, the president met with top military officials at the White House. No one wore a mask at the photo opportunity, although the Secret Service agents who were off-camera took caution.

The CDC recommends that citizens wear masks in public places where it is difficult to practice social distancing, although advice is not mandatory.

Hassett, a senior economic adviser to the president who recently returned to government service, told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that he was aware of the risks of working in the White House during the pandemic.

“I knew when I returned that I would be taking risks, that I would be safer sitting at home than in a west wing which, even with all the evidence in the world and the best medical equipment on Earth, is a relatively tight place,” Hassett said. On CBS “Face the Nation,” Hassett admitted, “It’s scary to go to work.

Hassett compromised the clarity of the administration’s coronavirus message when he sincerely told CNN’s Jake Tapper that “there is no downside” to further testing, and stated that the administration is trying to increase it.

Trump repeatedly says that the US USA It has conducted more tests than any other nation, but the USA. USA It does not lead the group when it comes to testing per capita, the most significant metric.

But last Tuesday, Trump said, “I don’t think you need that kind of evidence or that much evidence, but some people disagree with me and others agree with me.” Trump hailed the news of Miller’s diagnosis after previous negative tests, saying he showed that “the whole concept of testing is not necessarily excellent.” On May 6, McEnany said it was a “myth” that all Americans should be tested. “If we screen all Americans in this country right now, we would have to retest them an hour later, and then an hour later,” he said.

Hassett revealed in “State of the Union” that everyone who wants to go in to see Trump must first test negative for the coronavirus, which means the White House has a much stricter protocol than normal Americans.

It is appropriate that the president – Given your responsibilities as head of state-elect and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, you should receive the best medical care available.

But such provisions open the White House to allegations of hypocrisy when senior officials raise questions about the importance of the evidence. Some public health experts say the US USA They need to screen millions of people a day to control the pandemic. According to CDC figures, at the beginning of the month, the tests were done at the rate of 200,000 to 250,000 per day. The latest figures are not necessarily complete, so don’t give a complete picture.

White House in no hurry for new stimulus package

The magnitude of the horrific unemployment figures released on Friday, showing the unemployment rate at 14.7% and likely to rise, appears to have solidified Trump’s shift to the position that the economy should open, no matter what happens. .

“Will some people be seriously affected? Yes,” Trump said during a visit to Arizona last week. “But we have to open our country, and we have to open it soon.”

Trump’s evolution probably explains the lack of emphasis in the White House messages on the public health aspect of the crisis. CNN last week reported that the administration would not endorse a 17-page report on guidelines on how states can safely reopen, calling it “overly prescriptive.”
The last time a senior public health official formally briefed journalists at the White House was during a Rose Garden event on April 27 when Birx, the coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, spoke. Birx has intervened several times at other events related to the President since then. And she appeared at a CNN coronavirus city hall event last week.

Also on Sunday, the White House sent new signs that it is in no rush to conclude another massive economic stimulus deal, despite some states warning that their fiscal positions are dire.

Hassett said in “State of the Union” that it was correct to pause to assess the need and pace of recovery as states begin to open up.

“Given the $ 9 billion in aid that went through the last three phases, given that they are still available, and there are still plenty of them to be delivered over the next month, we believe we have a little moment, the luxury of a moment. , learn about what’s going on, “he said.

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