AN OPINION ON FEDERAL RESPONSES TO THE CORONAVIRUS THUS FAR
Image by Evan Vucci/AP
Zoë Wallace
Head of Political and Global Impacts
Co-Editor-in-Chief
Secretary and Outreach Officer
On Thursday night, during a coronavirus briefing, President Donald Trump made sure Americans were aware of the effects of sunlight and cleaning supplies on the coronavirus. He speculated about the effects of putting both of these inside the body of an infected person. His first point, about using ultraviolet light, is potentially dangerous because if put inside the body, UV light would hurt cells indiscriminately. His second point is what prompted more extreme backlash, however. His direct quote was: “I see the disinfectant where it knocks [the virus] out in a minute. One minute! And is there a way we can do something, by an injection inside or almost a cleaning?” He was suggesting injecting disinfectant into peoples' bodies as a treatment, and hinted that the medical community would now give considerable weight to this idea (a statement which was denounced by an official from the Department of Homeland Security according to NBC News). President Trump's ill-informed comments could cause damage to the country by spreading misinformation that could potentially kill someone who decides to inject cleaning supplies into their body. The President has since claimed that his statements were a result of him asking “a very sarcastic question to the reporters in the room about disinfectant on the inside.” There was absolutely nothing in the President’s demeanor to suggest sarcasm, but would sarcasm be appropriate during a briefing at all? Also, his comments were clearly directed toward a staff member, not a reporter. Several disinfectant companies have released statements to warn against the injection of their products, fearing his comments would be taken seriously. This specific example of the administration’s mismanagement of the situation surrounding the coronavirus shows a glimpse into the nation’s wholly dysfunctional response.
The Trump administration disbanded the pandemic response team of the White House National Security Council in April of 2018. The administration also made many calls for budget cuts for the CDC. When the coronavirus pandemic began, there was a lack of testing equipment for the population, allowing for a heightened death toll. Countries such as South Korea kept their death toll much lower by providing widespread testing so that those who tested positive would know to self-isolate. Past administrations, especially the Obama administration, dealt with many outbreaks, including Zika and H1N1. So what makes the response to this outbreak so much different?
The Trump administration extremely downplayed the extent of the virus, even after the outbreak spread past China to European nations. It has now been proven that China downplayed the extent of the effects of the virus in their country as well, playing a key role in allowing it to get out of hand. This was an obvious attempt to protect the country’s economy and reputation. This lie caused severe damage to other nations, as they were not prepared for the extent of the destruction wreaked by the virus. However, the first coronavirus case in the US was on January 20th (and was declared a public health emergency on January 31st), which gave the Trump administration considerable time to take precautions and prepare testing supplies before it got out of hand. Unfortunately, President Trump implied that early coronavirus concerns were a “hoax,” comparing it to the Russian tampering investigation. At one point, President Trump, referring to the number of coronavirus cases in the US, said that "when you have fifteen people, and the fifteen within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that's a pretty good job we've done.” Needless to say, those fifteen cases in the US did not become “close to zero,” and the President was congratulating himself too soon. As I am writing this, there are 1,035,765 cases and 59,266 deaths from COVID-19 in the United States alone (for reference: April 28).
Once President Trump declared a National Emergency on March 13th, he continued to assure the public that restrictions would be lifted very soon to restore the economy, even though reopening the country after so little time would likely only result in a second and more dangerous wave of deaths. He cited a “timeline” that allowed an end to social distancing even before Easter, which was backed by little to no medical evidence. Recently, testing has become more widely available, but not to the extent that asymptomatic carriers (at least those who are not medical professionals), which may make up 25% of the carriers (according to the director of the CDC) can be tested. The American Medical Association, American Hospital Association, and American Nurses Association wrote a letter to the Trump administration about the lack of ventilators, masks, and other medical equipment that are necessary for the medical response to the virus and protection of medical personnel, explaining that the federal reserves of equipment that had already been provided to them were not enough. This shows how woefully unprepared this country was for a pandemic of this magnitude.
Through all of this, Trump has also been pushing for policies that will further hurt those who are suffering from the virus. He has argued for a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and has advocated for pushing people off of food stamps. In a time where many people desperately need medical care in case of coronavirus complications, and thousands of people are losing their jobs as companies close, the Trump administration is trying to make these situations even more difficult. Also, through the “public charge” rule, immigrants may choose not to seek treatment for coronavirus because their immigration status may be threatened if they are seen as a financial burden to the country. This not only hurts those who choose not to seek treatment, but also those who interact with them.
President Trump has also threatened to hold federal coronavirus aid as leverage against “blue” states as a means to push for policy changes, including in California. Governor Newsom of California has shown remarkable leadership during this time, and has instituted more precautions than most states, helping to keep California cases down. This has been mostly successful, at least in proportion to the population of the state.
Protests against the shutdowns have become more and more prominent. During some of the most widely-attended protests, Trump has tweeted “LIBERATE [STATE],” seeming to encourage the blatant disregard for the health of those within those states. He is also contradicting his own administration’s recommendation of social distancing and gatherings of no more than ten people to slow the spread of the virus. Each state seems to have power over its own response to the virus, and it is interesting that Donald Trump is siding with the states that are pushing to reopen, rather than the recommendations of his own medical experts.
I am not, by any means, implying that the Trump administration has not made any good decisions or that they have done nothing to combat the coronavirus, because that would simply be false. In some ways, the country has been successful against the virus, and I do not mean to discredit these efforts. I am simply analyzing the situations in which the administration has failed in its response, because as students, and possibly as future leaders, it is our duty to know what mistakes have been made so that we can do better if we are ever given the chance. It is also important for everyone to hold the government accountable, because the government’s job is to represent and benefit the citizens of this country, and soon students like us will be the ones to elect these officials.
All in all, the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus has not been successful. It could be said that the administration “shot itself in the foot” in April of 2018 when it dismantled the pandemic response team, and since then, it has not responded in a timely manner to the extreme threat of the virus. State leadership seems to be taking a step forward and asserting its own power, in some cases to loosen restrictions and in other cases to tighten them. Hopefully the administration will learn from its early mistakes and take stronger steps in the future to combat the virus.
Sources:
Benen, Steve. “A Line on the Coronavirus Outbreak Trump May Come to Regret.” MSNBC, NBCUniversal News Group, 28 Feb. 2020, www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/line-coronavirus-outbreak-trump-may-come-regret-n1144686.
Dale, Daniel. “Fact Check: Trump Lies That He Was Being 'Sarcastic' When He Talked about Injecting Disinfectant.” CNN, Cable News Network, 24 Apr. 2020, www.cnn.com/2020/04/24/politics/fact-check-trump-disinfectant-sarcastic/index.html.
Dilanian, Ken, et al. “Timeline: Trump Administration's Response to Coronavirus.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 17 Mar. 2020, www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/timeline-trump-administration-s-response-coronavirus-n1162206.
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