Corona Virus Time Line
Chinese Travel Ban
This was the first official action by the US Government to help mitigate the movement of the coronavirus / COVID-19. It occurred on Jan 31st and yes Donald Trump should take credit for this action. It should also be noted that at this time Donald Trump knew that the coronavirus was dangerous, why else would he have taken action.
So what else did he do?
There is little evidence that he did anything to prepare this country. He felt that the travel ban, even though it was not absolute would be sufficient. By the end of February Italy became a hot sport in Europe. On March 11 Donald Trump banned travel from most of Europe, but left travel to England and Ireland thus leaving travel to his gold resorts open.
Through out the pandemic, these were the 2 most significant actions taken by Donald Trump and his administration. He basically handled the coronavirus the same way he has handled immigration. Keep Out!
Coronavirus Task Force.
The coronavirus task force was formed on January 29th. It was led by the Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar. This task force met with little fan fair for several months.
On February 9th the task force met with the National Governors Association (NGA) an briefed them on the coronavirus. At this meeting screening, diagnostic, therapies, and vaccines were discussed. The task force also stated that the risk to the US at this time was low.
On February 26th Mike Pence was named to head the coronavirus task force.
Quotes by Donald Trump in February
February 2, 2020: “We pretty much shut it down coming in from China.”
February 10, 2020: “In April supposedly it dies with the hotter weather”
February 24, 2020: “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA.. Stock Market starting to look very good to me!”
February 25, 2020: “People are geting better… they’re all getting better”
February 26, 2020: (Twitter) “The 15 (cases in the US) within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero.” and “We’re going down, not up.”
February 27, 2020: (Twitter) “One day it’s like a miracle, it will disappear” Something he continues to say often.
February 28, 2020: “this (the coronavirus) is their new hoax”
What these messages provide is a rosy picture of something we have under control and will go away.
Press Briefings Began on March 16th.
We all know about the press briefings. In the beginning the information was vital, but they quickly became the great Donald J Trump holding court about how great he is. How much we are doing well and getting better.
We shut down non-essential businesses and the stock market tanked. An unprecedent number of jobs were loss.
He touted hydroxychloroquine, which was not approved and was found to have adverse effects for those with COVID-19. Later Donald Trump suggested ingesting bleach to cure and prevent the disease. I wonder how many poisonings occurred because of these comments.
Eventually he became boastful which turned to combative if any questioner suggested he had done anything wrong. By late April the briefings no longer served the purpose of providing information. By this time I had difficulty listening to these briefings as the information was meant to bolster false testing claims and brag about how good Donald Trump and his administration was doing.
Donald Trump also placed blame.
- Obama, for leaving the cupboards bare and not developing a test for a disease that did not exist while he was in office. He never mentioned, that he eliminated the National Security Council department for tracking threats of biological nature. Trump also never mentions how seldom he is actually briefed on national security matters.
- China, for not stopping the virus within their borders. “It would have been so easy to stop it there.” If he knew how China could stop it, how come was he unable to stop it in the United States.
- World Health Organization (WHO). I do not understand, how we are better off out of the WHO. The more we isolate from information, the less we will be informed about future pandemics.
The time for placing blame is not in the middle of a crisis. It is counter productive.
Face Masks
The task force provided guidelines for safety which at first did not include masks, but very soon after that wearing mask were added to the guidelines. Quote April 4th. “I am choosing not to do it.” This is where Donald Trump made his biggest mistake. He made masks a political issue.
The CDC Director Robert Redfield under oath stated “These (holding up a mask) actually, we have clear scientific evidence they work, and they are our best defense, I might even go so far as to say this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against COVID than when I take a COVID vaccine, because the immunogenicity might be 70%, and if I don’t get an immune response the vaccine’s not going to protect me. This face mask will.”
To this day Donald Trump removes his face mask, even after he has contracted COVID-19 .
Re-openning
Almost as soon as we shutdown, Trump started discussing re-openning. The coronavirus task force came up with recommendations on how and when to re-open businesses.
Trump and his Republican Governors almost immediately started re-openning. The measurements as to when to re-open were ignored. For a short while it seemed to be okay, but by June the case numbers and the death counts started to rise. The situation was worst in Florida, Texas, Arizona, and California.
While we are currently on a downward trajectory for both cases and deaths, it seems like a fragile moment. We must remain vigilant.
Were do we go from here
This disease is not a republican or democratic disease. While it started in China, it is not a chinese disease, but an international problem. When we finally get to take a breath we need to review everything.
A post event review is essential to our future health.
In writing this issue, I discovered some truths in what Donald Trump has said. My belief is still that he misdirected our response. He did not trust the american public with the truth. He also over estimated his own abilities to interpret the data and make choices.
His choices throughout his presidency have been based on what is best for him and not necessarily the public. He points fingers and distorts truth.
But we can not afford to just say new leadership will handle the beginnings of the next crisis better. New leadership must prepare for the next pandemic before it occurs.
So soon to be President Biden
Hopefully the ball is in your court…
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