It is the poor response towards the novel coronavirus which cost America dear as Trump Administration didn’t understand the complexity of the problem at the right time. And now it’s turned out to be the biggest crisis in a century.
To understand its severity and why the USA is struggling to tackle the growing crisis, first you should check a reality check from two different statements on the same topic, the global pandemic (novel coronavirus outbreak).
The first one is a tweet made by the USA President Donald Trump (during the initial stage of COVID-19 outbreak in America) and the second one came from the World Health Organization (WHO) exactly a month after the first one (by Trump).
Trump’s tweet reads as,
“The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. We are in contact with everyone and all relevant countries. CDC & World Health have been working hard and very smart. Stock Market starting to look very good to me!”
In contrast, exactly a month after Trump’s tweet, WHO delivered a stark reality check. The statement which was made by Margaret Harris, a WHO spokesperson, reads as,
“We are now seeing a very large acceleration in cases in the US. So it does have that potential [to become the centre of the pandemic]”.
So, as of now, it’s not a rocket science that you need to understand why the USA is miserable failed to tackle the coronavirus (or COVID-19) crisis.
The failure to contain the spread of the coronavirus in USA is mostly due to three major reasons that are –
- A lack of preparation
- Deep-rooted dysfunction
- A reckless president
Now, the entire America is under the grip of Coronavirus with the aid of these three reasons. As a result, more than 1.5 million people in the USA have been diagnosed with Covid-19 and more than 100,000 people have died so far.
It is the lack of preparation that caused most of the damage.
The true scale of infection in the USA is certainly far worse; with a severe lack of testing having stymied efforts to contain Covid-19 once it emerged first. Secondly, the administration’s rejection of standard WHO testing kits did not help either as the decision to develop its own backfired. The home developed kits just turned out to be faulty. Third, the Trump Administration repeatedly and systematically corroded critical parts of the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), as observed by Christopher Sellers, an expert in the environment and health at Stony Brook University. So, this is like a perfect storm of ‘Lack of preparation.’
Meanwhile, insufficient testing might be the cause of leniency towards the severity of this pandemic. The administration might misread the fact that, a Pandemic happens when a new virus emerges and that can spread between people sustainably. Because there is little to no to pre-existing immunity against the new virus, it spreads worldwide and can infect a large number of populations.
Another fact is, generally coronaviruses survive for shorter periods at higher temperatures and higher humidity (like in India.) than in cooler or dryer environments like America. That means, we need better preparedness to combat this.
Although from the evidence so far, the novel coronavirus can be spread in all areas including areas with hot and humid weather and the outbreak could last for a long time depending on the severity of the outbreak.
Deep-rooted dysfunction.
A deep-rooted well-functioning mechanism is needed to contain the spread of this virus especially when there is currently no vaccine to prevent COVID-19. So the best way to prevent its spread is to avoid being exposed to this virus as the virus is seemed to spread mainly from person-to-person and current evidence suggests that novel coronavirus may remain viable for long hours on different surfaces.
And what led to deep-rooted dysfunction is lack of clear and strict guidelines by the Trump Administration to the state governors to follow. As a result, state governors have taken up the mantle, shutting down public gatherings and businesses not before most of the damage has been done.
The poor functioning of the administration can be gauged from the fact that, doctors and nurses had to beg for PPE kits online following a paucity of medical supplies. Even the hospital equipment supply diminished forcing a doctor wore a plastic bag during the treatment procedure.
Such type of administrational functioning of the world’s richest country is laughable (at the best), especially when you are armed with some of the most highly trained scientists and doctors.
A reckless President
When Trump Administration had enough time to prepare for this pandemic at the state, local and household level, the president was busy downplaying the severity of the crisis by terming it as “hoax.”
When a Narendra Modi (PM, India) had to declare a complete shutting down of the 2nd populous country in the world (with more than 1.3 billion population) for 21 days, the US president was adamant not to impose shut-down by saying “our country wasn’t built to be shut down.”
When the world is busy in putting their houses in order, Trump is busy in blaming China for the crisis (and WHO for doing nothing significantly for this pandemic except supporting China).
Conclusion
From sluggish preparedness to lack of proper administrational functioning, Trump’s COVID-19 handling has been a disaster years in the making.
For millions of anxious Americans, the coming days, weeks or even months will be probably shape the outlines of the biggest ever crisis.
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