Covid-19: ‘A Shame’: Trump’s tweet angers coronavirus survivors in the US.

Dizzy with a giddy fever and unable to breathe, Scott Sedlacek had one thing going for him: He was one of the first people to be treated for Covid-19 at Seattle’s Swedish Medical Center, and the doctors and nurses were able to give him a ton of Attention.

The 64-year-old recovered after being treated with a bronchial nebulizer in March, but the following months have done little to mitigate the trauma of his illness.

It infuriated him when he heard the advice of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, on Twitter and video not to fear the disease, as well as the insistence of the president to travel in a caravan in front of the Walter Reed Medical Center and return to the White House while still infected.

“I am very glad that he seems to be fine, that he has doctors who can give him experimental drugs that are not available to the masses,” Sedlacek said. “For the rest of us who are trying to protect ourselves, that behavior is a disgrace.”

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Covid-19 has infected some 7.5 million Americans, leaving more than 210,000 dead and millions more unemployed, including Sedlacek. The United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population but more than 20 percent of the reported deaths.

However, the world’s highest-profile coronavirus patient tweeted when he was due to be released from the hospital after a three-day stay: “Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it rule your life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs and knowledge. I feel better than 20 years ago! “

He reiterated the message in a video, saying “Be careful” but “don’t let it get the better of you.”

“You’re going to beat him,” he said. “We have the best medical equipment, we have the best medicines.”

The advice dovetails with Trump’s downplaying of the virus, his ridicule of those who wear masks to protect themselves and others, and his insistence on holding rallies and events at the White House in contravention of federal guidelines. However, emergency room doctors, public health experts, survivors of the disease, and those who have lost loved ones were horrified, saying that his arrogant words were especially dangerous at a time when infections are rampant. increasing in many places.

Marc Papaj, a Seneca Nation member living in Orchard Park, New York, lost his mother, grandmother, and aunt to Covid-19. He found it difficult to follow the president’s advice not to let the virus “take over his life.”

“The loss of the dearest members of my family will always dominate my life in every way during all my days,” Papaj said, adding the following about Trump: “He doesn’t care about any of us, it feels good.”

Dr. Tien Vo, who has administered more than 40,000 coronavirus tests at his clinics in Imperial County California, had this to say: “Oh my Lord. That’s a very bad recommendation from the president. “

The county is an agricultural region along the Mexican border that, at one time, had the highest infection rate in California. Its 180,000 residents are largely Latino and low-income, groups that have suffered disproportionately from the virus. Cases overwhelmed its two hospitals in May.

“The president has access to the best healthcare in the world, along with a helicopter to transport him to the hospital as needed,” Dr. Janet Baseman, an epidemiologist at the University of Washington School of Public Health, wrote in an email.

“The rest of us who don’t have such rapid access to care should continue to worry about covid, which has killed a million people worldwide in just a few months.”

Some of Trump’s supporters said they would not be swayed by the White House outbreak: wearing a mask is an option, and demanding its use limits freedom, said Melissa Blundo, president of the “No Mask Nevada” PAC.

“I am not saying that the coronavirus is not real. I’m not saying it’s not a pandemic, “he said.” I think tuberculosis could be called a pandemic when it kills a person every 21 seconds, but we have not closed the whole world. I find it interesting that we are taking this particular pandemic and closing economies. “

Data from the US Centers for Disease Control shows 8,920 cases of tuberculosis in 2019. In 2017, the most recent year in which deaths were reported, 515 died from bacterial lung infection.

Candy Boyd, owner of the Boyd Funeral Home in Los Angeles, which serves many black families, said Trump’s comments were infuriating and an “example that he does not live in reality.”

The funeral home receives fewer victims of the virus now than it did in the spring, when there were several a day, but people continue to die, he said.

“We have people dying and this is a joke to him,” Boyd said. “I don’t take it lightly. This is sad. This is absurd.”

Associated Press reporters Elliot Spagat in San Diego, Michelle Price in Las Vegas, and Report for America’s Sam Metz in Carson City, Nevada contributed.