Apart from serious errors such as the poor distribution of diagnostic tests, which it makes the actual number of people infected in the country a little less than a mystery, The coronavirus crisis has hit the United States with two serious problems. First, the volcanic personality of a president in the middle of the election year, fearful of impact of the epidemic on the economy, whose strength contemplates as its main argument for reelection. And second, the weaknesses that hamper health care in one of the only developed economies that lack universal public health, and where millions of citizens avoid visits to the doctor for fear of the costs involved.
In his public communications since the beginning of the crisis, Donald Trump has spread the skepticism, has relativized the scale of the crisis and criticized the alarmist version that he thinks the media offers. This Monday, he pointed out on Twitter the alleged responsibility of the “false news” in the crisis, and insisted on minimizing the scope of the crisis. “Last year 37,000 Americans died from the common flu. It is an average of between 27,000 and 70,000 deaths per year. Nothing has been closed, life and the economy move on. There are currently 546 cases of coronavirus confirmed, with 22 deaths. Think about it! ”He tweeted. His campaign of denial of the crisis has led some columnist to refer to the coronavirus as “Trump’s Chernobyl.”
During a visit last week to the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), responsible for protecting the country against threats to health and safety, the president exhibited his usual lack of humility. “I like this thing. I really understand her. People are surprised that I understand it. Each of these doctors says: ‘How do you know so much about this?’ Maybe I have a natural ability. Maybe I should have done that instead of introducing myself to president, ”he said. But his public statements have shown a deep and unpleasant ignorance of what is, for example, the process of marketing vaccines (whose effectiveness has not hesitated to question in the past) and, more generally, of the nature and scope real crisis produced by the coronavirus. “Arrived April, in theory, when the weather is a bit hotter, it will go miraculously,” he defended on February 12, contradicting the director of the CDC, who days earlier predicted that the virus would remain active much longer.
“We are going down quite substantially, not increasing. We have it very under control,” Trump said on February 26. But there are already more than 730 confirmed infections and 27 deaths for the coronavirus, which already extends through 32 states. In addition, experts fear that the real situation may be much worse, because some defective kits were initially distributed, and very strict guidelines were established for the tests, which were later expanded. The CDC published this Tuesday that they have analyzed 8,500 specimens to date. But multiple specimens are analyzed per patient, so that the number of patients examined will be smaller. In any case, the extent of the tests is much more limited than in countries like South Korea, where diagnostic tests are performed on 10,000 patients a day.
Dealing with the skepticism of the president of the United States, which has become a source of dissemination of misinformation, is an added challenge for health officials, forced into a delicate balance in their public appearances and interactions with the Administration, which only hinders The federal government’s response to the crisis. An answer that faces another problem, this one of a structural nature, related to the weaknesses that undermine health in the United States.
There are 29 million people without medical insurance in the country. Many others have policies that include franchises, which in 2019 amounted to an average of $ 1,655. That is why many people do not consider going to the doctor even if they have symptoms similar to those caused by the coronavirus. “Studies indicate that, in 2017, 9% of American adults delayed or did not seek medical assistance due to their cost. In adults with relatively worse health, the figure is 19%, and in people without medical insurance, 29%. Not everyone needs to see a doctor, of course, but those figures tell us a lot about the problem we are facing, ”explains Christen Linke Young, a member of the Public Health initiative at the University of Southern California and the Brookings Institute, and Exasessor of Health of the White House.
In theory, the CDC offers the test for free, provided it is prescribed by a doctor, and large insurers have assured that they will not charge for the service in some States either. But daunting stories circulate in the press. Like that of Osmel Martinez Azcue, who told the Miami Herald how, when he returned with flu symptoms from a trip to China, he went to a Miami hospital to get the coronavirus tests. It turned out that what I had was flu. And also an invoice of $ 3,270 when he arrived home.
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