Yesterday, the United States reported its highest number of new coronavirus infections to date. Today, the Labor Department reported that 1.5 million people filed employment for the first time last week, bringing total unemployment claims since the virus started to 47 million. It didn’t have to be this bad. Donald Trump’s failure to control the spread of the coronavirus has already contributed to tens of thousands of needless deaths and record unemployment. Now, he is making the crisis even worse by choosing not to take basic steps that would control the spread of the virus.
Here are five ways Trump is adding to the health and economic fallout from the coronavirus:
1) Rush To Reopen: Trump’s Push For States To Reopen Prematurely Is Directly Responsible For Massive Spikes, But He Says U.S. Will Not Lock Down Again
- Pulitzer Prize Winning Science Journalist: “Where Social Distancing Policies Have Largely Been Observed, As In The NE, Cases Are Declining. But Where States Rushed To Reopen, Cases Are Soaring.” “The differences in #COVID19 trends by US region are stark. Where social distancing policies have largely been observed, as in the NE, cases are declining. But where States rushed to reopen, cases are soaring. It won’t be long, before the South surpasses NE’s mid-April peak.” [Twitter, Laurie Garrett, 6/24/20]
- Amanda M. Simanek, Associate Professor In Epidemiology At The University Of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Joseph J. Zilber School Of Public Health, Argued That Many States Eased Lockdown Measures Before Establishing Necessary Testing And Contract Tracing Infrastructure. “Simanek said many states eased lockdown measures before they had met the right criteria, including by building up the necessary infrastructure. That includes testing and contact tracing capabilities, which she said are ‘the primary means by which to prevent new cases from leading to wide-scale outbreaks.’” [Newsweek, 6/15/20]
- Trump On June 17, 2020: “We Won’t Be Closing The Country Again. We Won’t Have To Do That.” “‘We won’t be closing the country again. We won’t have to do that,’ Trump said in an interview with Fox News Channel.” [Reuters, 6/17/20]
2) Opposition To Testing: Trump Wants To Slow Testing Though Experts Agree Widespread Testing Is Vital To Stop The Spread Of The Virus And Reopen The Economy
- Harvard Global Health Institute Director Dr. Ashish Jha: “Testing Was The Fundamental Failure That Forced Our Country To Shut Down.” During the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis hearing on testing, tracing, and targeted containment Dr. Jha said: ‘Every expert on the left, right, and center agrees that we had to shut our economy down because the outbreak got too big because we didn’t have a testing infrastructure that allowed us to put our arms around the outbreak. And so testing was the fundamental failure that forced our country to shut down.’” [Twitter, Coronavirus War Room, 5/13/20]
- Yale University Professor Dr. Howard Forman: “Under Trump’s Leadership, Instead Of Increasing Testing Capacity, He’s Done The Opposite.” “Every time we miss an opportunity to test an individual, we are increasing the chance that someone will get infected or die, but under Trump’s leadership, instead of increasing testing capacity, he’s done the opposite. As a result, he’s only prolonging this crisis.” [Protect Our Care, Press Call, 6/23/20]
- During A Tulsa Rally On June 20, Trump Declared That He Told His Administration To “Slow The Testing Down Please.” “Trump had told supporters at the rally that Covid-19 testing was ‘a double-edged sword.’ ‘I said to my people, “Slow the testing down please,”’ the President had said.” [CNN, 6/22/20]
- The Trump Administration Has Withheld $14 Billion In Funding For Coronavirus Testing And Contact Tracing. “The Trump administration has been sitting on nearly $14 billion in funding that Congress passed for coronavirus testing and contact tracing, according to Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York and Patty Murray of Washington. The top Democrats said in a letter Sunday to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar that the Trump administration has ‘still failed’ to distribute more than $8 billion out of $25 billion appropriated by Congress to expand testing and contact tracing. The letter indicated that Congress passed these funds as part of a coronavirus relief bill in April.” [NBC News, 6/21/20]
- As The United States Reached An All Time In New Reported Cases In A Day, The Trump Administration Announced That They Would Be Pulling Federal Funding For Coronavirus Testing Sites At The End Of June. “As the number of coronavirus infections continues to climb across the country — particularly now in the South and West — the Trump administration is planning to end its funding and support for coronavirus testing sites at the end of the month.” [NBC News, 6/24/29]
3) Refusal To Support Basic Safety Measures: Trump Has Flouted Mask Wearing Even Though It Is Proven To Effectively Slow The Transmission Of The Virus
- June 18, 2020: Trump Claimed That Americans Were Wearing Masks During The Coronavirus Pandemic To Show Disapproval Of Him. Trump Claimed “President Donald Trump told The Wall Street Journal that he believes that some Americans are wearing masks during the coronavirus pandemic not to protect others but simply to show that they disapprove of him.” [Business Insider, 6/18/20]
- May 7, 2020: Trump Said That Him Wearing A Mask Would “Send The Wrong Message.” “President Donald Trump has been mask averse for weeks. Within minutes of the CDC announcing its updated mask recommendations last month, the president said, ‘I don’t think that I’m going to be doing it.’ Trump has told advisers that he believes wearing one would ‘send the wrong message,’ according to one administration and two campaign officials not authorized to publicly discuss private conversations.” [Associated Press, 5/7/20]
- Former Trump FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb: “Universal Masking Is Most Obvious, Least Intrusive Intervention States With Large Epidemics Can Take.” “Universal masking is most obvious, least intrusive intervention states with large epidemics can take. But it won’t be enough at this stage. Many will also have to consider targeted mitigation steps to limit congregate settings that they identify as the sources of biggest spread.” [Twitter, Scott Gottlieb, 6/25/20]
- Researchers Found That Wearing Face Masks Prevented More Than 78,000 Infections In Italy And More Than 66,000 Infections In New York City. “The researchers calculated that wearing face masks prevented more than 78,000 infections in Italy between April 6 and May 9, and more than 66,000 infections in New York City between April 17 and May 9.” [CNN, 6/12/20]
- June 2020 Study: “We Conclude That Wearing Of Face Masks In Public Corresponds To The Most Effective Means To Prevent Interhuman Transmission.” “We conclude that wearing of face masks in public corresponds to the most effective means to prevent interhuman transmission, and this inexpensive practice, in conjunction with simultaneous social distancing, quarantine, and contact tracing, represents the most likely fighting opportunity to stop the COVID-19 pandemic.” [PNAS, Zhang et al., 6/11/20]
4) Holding Super Spreader Events: Experts Warn That Trump Holding Indoor Rallies With No Social Distancing Or Mask Wearing Will Accelerate The Spread The Virus
- According The CDC’s Guidelines, Trump’s June 20th Rally Would Fall Into The “Highest Risk” Category Of In-Person Gatherings. “The event would fall into the ‘highest risk’ category, according to the CDC’s own new guidelines issued on Friday, which characterizes those as ‘large in-person gatherings where it is difficult for individuals to remain spaced at least 6 feet apart and attendees travel from outside the local area.’” [NBC News, 6/13/20]
- Julie Fischer, An Associate Research Professor Of Microbiology And Immunology At Georgetown University, Warned That Trump’s Tulsa Rally Could Seed Outbreaks In Communities Across The Country. “Julie Fischer, an associate research professor of microbiology and immunology at Georgetown University, said the event could have wide repercussions for the country. ‘With a little bad luck, that scenario could end in the seeding of community outbreaks of COVID-19 across the U.S.,’ she said.” [Associated Press, 6/14/20]\
- Despite These Concerns, Trump Has Continued To Hold Rallies, Including One In Phoenix, AZ That Did Not Require Attendees To Wear Masks Or Have Their Temperatures Checked. “After a disappointing showing at his campaign rally over the weekend, President Donald Trump renewed his performance for a packed crowd of students on Tuesday, telling his Arizona audience that they were guardians in a cultural war over the heritage of the country… Images from the event showed a large crowd tightly packed together, with almost no one wearing protective masks. There were no temperature checks for the estimated 3,000 cheering attendees who, like many of Trump’s staunchest fans, ignored a new local ordinance requiring them to wear a mask, despite a public-health plea from the Democratic mayor on Monday.” [Politico, 6/23/20]
5) Refusal To Invoke Defense Production Act (DPA): Trump Is Refusing To Invoke The Full Powers Of The DPA To Ramp Up Production Of Testing And Protective Equipment
- For Weeks, The Trump Administration Delayed Invoking The Defense Production Act To Increase The Production Of Medical Supplies Necessary To Increase Testing. “President Donald Trump will use the Defense Production Act to compel an unnamed company to produce 20 million more coronavirus testing swabs every month — weeks after labs and public health officials started warning that shortages of these swabs were hurting efforts to ramp up testing nationwide… Asked why his administration waited for weeks to use the Defense Production Act on swabs, Trump alternately claimed that states have ‘millions coming in’ already, that states can procure them on their own, and that governors ‘don’t know quite where they are’ and need the federal government’s help.” [Politico, 4/19/20]
- Co-Founder Of Get Us PPE Val Griffith Has Argued That The DPA Could Be Used More Broadly To Increase Production Of Protective Gear. “Griffeth argues the Defense Production Act (DPA), which Trump has deployed selectively, could be used more broadly to increase production of essential protective gear.” [Vox, 6/17/20]
- National Nurses United President Zenei Cortez: “If There Is Concern That Our Nation’s Health Facilities Do Not Have Enough Disposable, Impermeable Gowns, The Presidential Administration Needs To Use The Defense Production Act.” “’Fluid impermeable gowns are an important part of the overall personal protective equipment ensemble. We must protect our health care workers, and if there is concern that our nation’s health facilities do not have enough disposable, impermeable gowns, the presidential administration needs to use the Defense Production Act to direct our manufacturing industries to immediately make them, in addition to the N95 respirator masks and other PPE gear we also need to fight this virus for the long term,’ Zenei Cortez, president of National Nurses United, said in a statement after the FDA deregulated the use of cloth gowns in medical settings in April.” [Roll Call, 6/9/20]
- Former CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden Questioned Why The United States Had Not Been Able To Produce Enough Surgical Face Masks For The Public When Other Countries Had Been Able To Do So. “Surgical masks are more effective than cloth face coverings. Other countries have produced enough for the public as well as for health care workers and have kept prices low or given them out free to the public. Why can’t the United States do this?” [Twitter, Dr. Tom Frieden, 6/24/20]