President Trump has repeatedly stated that the corona virus is under control in the United States. He hasn’t talked about this for a long time. Instead, he is now preparing the Americans for tough times.
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President Trump now leaves it up to the experts to convey the seriousness of the situation: Doctor Deborah Birx, the White House coordinator for the coronavirus epidemic, speaks at a press conference – Trump is listening.
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The American president had played down the coronavirus for a long time, saying it was under control or not worse than the flu. And although he had changed his course in the past few weeks and recognized the seriousness of the situation, a week ago he came up with the idea that normal business could resume in the USA from Easter.
Nothing has been felt since the weekend. On Tuesday, the tone of the American president was somber and alarming. He urged the Americans to be prepared for the worst. “The next two or three weeks will be one of the most difficult we’ve ever had in this country,” Trump said at a press conference held by his corona task force in the White House that evening. “We will lose thousands of people.”
«There are no miracle cures»
The reason for the drastic words are, among other things, forecasts that assume that 100,000 to 240,000 people in the US could die from the coronavirus in the coming months – despite the measures taken to contain them. These figures are also not entirely new. America’s leading infectious disease expert, Anthony Fauci, had previously spoken of up to 200,000 deaths and millions of infections.
On Tuesday, Trump presented the forecasts in the presence of Fauci and White House doctor and coordinator for the coronavirus pandemic, Deborah Birx. Birx emphasized that the company was working to keep the number down. However, the shocking range is within the realm of possibility. “There is no miracle cure, there is no magic vaccine or therapy.” Everything depends on the behavior of the Americans. This could affect the course of the pandemic. When asked by a reporter whether the Americans had to prepare for 100,000 deaths, Fauci answered yes. The country should be prepared for it, even if it hopes that the number will not become a reality.
The USA as the frontrunner
The United States now has more confirmed corona cases than any other country in the world. The spread of the virus has accelerated rapidly there recently. The number of confirmed infections was around 200,000 on Wednesday morning, and the number of deaths was over 4,000. The situation is particularly dramatic in New York, where, according to statistics from Johns Hopkins University, more than 40 percent of deaths have been registered.
In the United States, approximately 200,000 people are currently infected with the virus
Confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States, by patient status (in thousands)
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Protective measures taken
Trump had already abandoned his idea of returning the US to normality at Easter last weekend. On Sunday, he announced that the US guidelines on distance keeping would be extended until the end of April. In the weeks before, he had repeatedly warned of the economic consequences, the president said earlier this week: “The economy is number two on my list”, the priority being to save many lives.
The experts in the coronavirus working group of the White House, Birx and Fauci, are now regarded nationwide as voices of reason in the crisis. Trump, who is otherwise not known as someone who gives a lot of attention to scientists, is now listening to them. At the press conference on Tuesday evening, he left the two to speak amazingly often.
Trump did not admit any mistakes in his initial handling of the crisis. When asked whether things would have been different in the United States if he had called for extensive containment measures earlier, he replied: “I think we did a great job.” Without the measures taken, between 1.5 and 2.2 million deaths would have been feared, the president said. In view of this, the possible 100,000 deaths are a “very low number”. Once again Trump tried to compare the war in the fight against the virus. He also mentioned several times that friends of his who had Covid-19 were now in hospital. It is possible that this also contributed to his rethinking.
Criticism of the president’s crisis management came on Tuesday from his predecessor Barack Obama, who usually has little to say on domestic affairs. This wrote in a tweet, everyone had seen the consequences of some ignoring the warnings of a pandemic in a terrible way – and at the same time called for the denial of the consequences of climate change.
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