It’s a new Donald Trump. With the number of patients infected with the new coronavirus in the US exceeding the 187,000 barrier, and 3,850 deaths, according to data from the Worldometer, the American president addressed the country this Tuesday with a very pessimistic and alarmist speech, asking them to prepare for two weeks “very, very painful”.
Is that the USA has already overtaken China in the number of infected and has not yet reached the foreseeable peak. The peak is expected to arrive in the next two weeks, which is what Donald Trump wants the country to be prepared for. “I want all Americans to be prepared for the difficult days that await them. We will now enter a period of two very painful weeks ”, said the American president during the usual daily briefing of the crisis office.
At the end of this period, which Donald Trump associates with the peak of the crisis, the American president hopes that the country can “see the light at the end of the tunnel”. But he stressed that, before that, “it will be two very, very painful weeks”.
After Trump, also doctor Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, made a dramatic portrait of the virus in the USA: the estimate is that 100,000 people will die by Covid-19, said. “We must be prepared for this number. Will it be that high? I hope not, and I hope that the more we work in the mitigation phase, the lesser the chances that the number will be so high. But to be realistic, we have to be prepared for that possibility, ”he said. But one thing is certain, he said: “We do not accept this number and we will do everything to lower it as much as possible”.
Trump also said that the country is prepared for this peak, with 10,000 fans “retained” waiting to be used, if necessary. “We kept them in check because the peak is coming and will come in force, so we wanted to have the fans ready to be used”.
Regarding testing, which is being questioned by health professionals in the U.S., Trump guarantees that everything possible is being done and that there is no shortage of tests. “We are doing more than any other country in the world, so far. We are testing and testing with highly reliable tests, ”he said, adding that starting tomorrow the United States will use a new test that guarantees results in“ just a few minutes ”.
According to Mike Pence, the confusion lies in the fact that, in the old test system, it is necessary to return the tests to the laboratories, which could only test a small number per day. Something that doesn’t happen now.
In a clear retreat from previous statements, Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Covid-19 is even “worse” than seasonal flu. “This is not a flu. This is cruel, ”he said, after mentioning the fact that he had a friend in a coma fighting the disease.
It is a notable change of tone in the American president. He who, even on 9 March, had tweeted that last year “37,000 Americans died from seasonal flu”, which affects an average of “27,000 to 70,000 people a year”. “Nothing closes, the economy and life goes on. There are currently 546 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 22 deaths. Think about it ”, he said at the time, with irony. Two days after that tweet, the director of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases admitted that the new coronavirus was ten times more lethal than the flu. About 20 days later, the number of infected patients already exceeds 187 thousand. And the peak has not yet arrived.
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