[ad_1]
United States President Donald Trump’s surprising Covid-19 diagnosis serves as a cruel reminder of the widespread spread of the coronavirus and the country’s tenuous control over the crisis, health experts say.
With infections rising in the United States over several weeks, Trump was one of roughly 40,000 Americans who learned they had tested positive when he broke the news on Friday.
The president went through a “very worrying” period and the next 48 hours “will be critical” for his care, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said today.
It was dramatically different from the optimistic assessment of Trump’s staff and doctors, who struggled not to reveal that the president had received supplemental oxygen at the White House before going to a military hospital.
Some of Trump’s top advisers and allies also recently tested positive.
“No one is completely out of reach of the virus, even those who are supposedly inside a protective bubble,” said Josh Michaud, associate director for global health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation in Washington.
Eight months after the virus first arrived in the United States, worrying signs appeared of what lies ahead this fall.
Some Wisconsin hospitals have run out of space and experts warned of a likely increase in infections during the colder months ahead. Economists also say it could take until the end of 2023 for the job market to fully recover.
The United States leads the world in number of confirmed infections, with more than 7 million, and deaths, with more than 208,000. Only a handful of countries rank higher in Covid-19 deaths per capita.
“The statistics are so mind-boggling that they make us numb to the reality of how painful, unacceptable and absurd this is,” said Dr. Reed Tuckson, chairman of the board of the Health Policy Alliance in Washington.
“Every American must redouble his vigilance. If we don’t, then we are being reckless and irresponsible. “
The president’s infection occurred when the nation reached a crossroads in its response to the virus.
The United States has an average of 40,000 cases a day. The situation is improving in the Sun Belt states that were hot spots in the summer, months after the states reopened in May and holiday gatherings fueled an increase in infections, hospitalizations and deaths.
Several people waving Trump signs and American flags at passing drivers in the St. Louis suburb of St. Charles said today that the infection of Trump and Parson will not change their behavior. Most of the roughly two dozen Trump supporters who gathered were not wearing masks.
Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University, said Trump’s diagnosis “reinforces the notion that we need a national policy and that everyone must participate in basic preventions.”
Instead, Schaffner said, the answer “has been outsourced to governors, leaving us with insane approaches.”
For months, Trump has downplayed the virus, rarely wearing a mask, holding large campaign rallies and urging businesses and schools to reopen. The masks have not been mandatory for White House staff, despite evidence that they help stop the spread.
“Now, tragically, this experiment has shown, in the highest office in the country, that it is not working. It didn’t work out, “Schaffner said.
Michaud said the nation is experiencing “a dangerous time.”
“We have many schools, universities, workplaces and other businesses and institutions that are reopening. Cooler weather is also coming, which will likely increase the chances of people gathering indoors, ”Michaud said.
If complacency appears, infections will increase.
“We are still not doing enough testing and contact tracing across the country,” Michaud said. “For all these reasons, we are likely to have more transmission in the United States, not less, in the coming weeks and months.”
