“I’m determined”: Trump wants to prepare the United States for future epidemics

US President Donald Trump wants to prepare the United States for future epidemics. “I am determined that America will be fully prepared for any future outbreaks (of diseases) that we hope there will be none,” Trump said on Thursday at an appearance in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

The national supply of masks, for example, will be “dramatically” increased, Trump announced. A president will never inherit empty shelves or expired products, he promised.

Critics accuse Trump of not responding energetically enough to the crisis, leaving the virus largely unprepared for the United States. “Any further delay from this government will result in even more unnecessary American deaths and even more families in financial disaster,” said Joe Biden campaign manager, Kate Bedingfield. Biden wants to challenge Trump as a Democratic candidate in the November election.

Criticism of strict measures

Because of the corona crisis, trips have also become a rarity for Trump. In Pennsylvania, he now visited a company that sells drugs and medical products. Despite the initial restrictions and admonished social distance, supporters lined the streets, sometimes crowded, to greet the President. Trump did not miss the opportunity to criticize what he sees as strict containment measures in his speech. The Pennsylvania governor, Democrat Tom Wolf, had to start opening the state up a bit. “You have areas in Pennsylvania that are hardly affected,” Trump said. Wolf had already eased measures for parts of the country last week.

In the US state of Michigan, protesters again marched outside the Capitol in the capital Lansing due to the continuing restrictions on Thursday – according to US media reports, however, it was significantly less than in previous weeks. Partly armed, hooded or with umbrellas against the rain, this time the people were standing in front of a locked door. Several armed demonstrators entered the parliament during a protest two weeks ago.

Policy discrepancies

On Thursday (local time), the health authority CDC published guidelines for restaurants and bars, schools and childcare, among other things, on how they can safely start operating again. The one-sided overviews are general and indicate that the next steps should be taken in coordination with state and local authorities. For all areas, the recommendation is to pay more attention to hygiene and social distance and to encourage everyone who is sick to stay at home. US media had previously reported inconsistencies in a draft policy between the CDC and the White House.

Trump fired again against China

In Washington, hardly a day goes by without allegations against China regarding the corona pandemic. Trump’s trading advisor Peter Navarro followed suit on Thursday. China created the virus “probably in this weapons laboratory in Wuhan in November,” Navarro told Fox News. The country subsequently “hid the virus behind the protective shield of the World Health Organization” for two months, “hoarded” protective equipment from all over the world, killed people and ultimately profited from the crisis. “Now Chinese government hackers are trying to steal information about the vaccine so that it can be made first.”

No evidence

There is no evidence to support Navarro’s assumption that the virus was created in a biological weapons laboratory. The same applies to the allegation that the virus may have come from a research laboratory in the city of Wuhan. Scientists consider it much more likely that Sars-CoV-2 is of natural origin and has been transmitted from animals to humans.

Trump again accused the Chinese on Thursday of not stopping the spread of the corona virus at the source, causing enormous damage. He did not want to speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping “at the moment”, Trump told Fox Business on Thursday. Trump did not take any concrete steps regarding possible US retaliation against China, but struck a threatening tone: “There are many things we could do. We could break all ties.”

“Much more information should have come from China and the president is reviewing the situation,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Fox Business on Thursday. The American public has a right to understand all the facts related to the outbreak in China, he said.

EU calls for independent investigation

Meanwhile, the European Union’s Foreign Minister, Josep Borell, called for an independent investigation into the origin of Corona. In order for the world to better protect itself from future pandemics, an independent scientific study of the origin of this pandemic is required, Borell wrote in a guest article for the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” (Friday edition). Borrell also called on China to “play its role and responsibility according to its weight” in combating the corona pandemic, researching vaccines and stimulating the global economy.

The corona crisis will result in losses of $ 5.8 to $ 8.8 trillion (€ 5,374.35 billion to € 8,154.19 billion) for the global economy this year, according to an updated estimate by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Friday . That would be 6.4 to 9.7 percent of the global gross domestic product. The forecast is more pessimistic than in April.

The US central banker Robert Kaplan calls for comprehensive nationwide corona tests. With a “dramatic national test initiative”, a relatively quick recovery of the economy from the crisis can be achieved, the head of the central bank branch in Dallas tells the TV station KERA.