The United State Leads the World in Cases; Hospitalizations and Deaths Are Climbing
Cases in the United States Are Surging Compared to Other Countries
- More than 3.8 million cases have been reported in the United States, though the CDC estimates that the number could be ten times higher. On July 16, the United States shattered its record with new coronavirus cases in a day with 77,000 new infections.
- As of July 16, the United States was reporting6 new infections per 100,000 people daily, whereas the European Union was only reporting 1 new infection per 100,000 people.
- On July 20, Trump appointed US Assistant Secretary Of Health Adm. Brett Giroir acknowledged that there was “no question” that the US was experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases.
States Are Seeing Record Hospitalizations, Some Systems Are Overwhelmed
- Seven states – including Florida, Georgia, Nevada, Kentucky, North Dakota, Arkansas and Montana – reported record high hospitalizations on July 21. At least 53 Florida hospitals have run out of ICU beds and hospitals in Texas are treating dozens of covid patients in emergency rooms.
The United States Has One of the World’s Worst Mortality Rates; Deaths Are Rising
- The United States currently has one of the highest death rates from coronavirus in the world, ahead of other hard-hit countries like Russia, Brazil, and Mexico. Many of the countries with slightly higher death rates have since controlled the spread of the virus, whereas cases in the US are surging.
- Daily deaths in the United States are rising again. As of July 21, reported deaths are ticking upwards in 26 states. Nationwide, the number of US deaths in the week ending July 19 was up 5% from the previous seven days.
- The United States has 4% of the world’s population and accounts for almost a quarter of all coronavirus deaths worldwide.
Testing In the US Is Far Below Where Experts Say It Should Be; As Capacity Has Expanded, So Have Delays
The United States Is Testing Far Below What Experts Recommend
- According to the New York Times, the number of daily tests conducted in the United States is only 35% the level considered necessary to mitigate the spread of the virus. Only 11 states are currently meeting the testing target.
- In the beginning of May, the Harvard Global Health Institute recommended that the US test at least 900,000 people a day by May 15. By the end of June, the Harvard Global Health Institute advised more than 1 million daily tests to contain the virus, and possibly more than 4 million to suppress it.
- Now, the US is still only routinely conducting between 750,000 and 800,000 tests a day, and as capacity has expanded, result times have slowed.
Test Delays Are Exacerbating Outbreaks
- On July 19, National Institutes for Health Director Dr. Francis Collins warned that a delay in receiving testing results back was undercutting the value of testing and making it harder to control the virus.
- Leading commercial lab Quest Diagnostics says the average wait time for non-priority patients to receive test results is 7 or more days, while some may experience wait times of up to two weeks.
President Trump Is at Odds With Members of His Own Party on Testing
- The administration is blocking $25 billion in funding requested by Senate Republicans to scale up testing and contact tracing efforts.
- Even Trump loyalists have criticized the United States’ testing strategy. On July 13, Trump’s former Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney called the United States’ testing capabilities “simply inexcusable” in a CNBC op-ed. On July 14th, Senator Lindsay Graham acknowledged, “We just don’t have enough testing in real time for the population as a whole.”
The Trump Administration Has Neutered The Center for Disease Control and Prevention
- The Trump administration ordered hospitals to bypass the CDC and to send COVID-19 patient information to a database housed at the Department of Health and Human Services.
- The administration is trying to block $10 billion in funding that GOP Senators want to allocate to the CDC.
- The Trump administration has consistently undermined the CDC; President Trump has criticized CDC guidelines for school reopenings and prevented CDC Director Robert Redfield from testifying before Congress on reopening schools, forced the CDC to alter recommendations for faith-based gatherings, and rejected CDC recommendations for reopening as “overly prescriptive.”
The Trump Administration Has Failed to Resolve Chronic PPE Shortages That Plague Front Line Workers
- Front-line workers are burning through protective gear as they treat a growing number of infected patients. Deborah Burger, president of National Nurses United, said: “Everybody thought [the PPE issue] was kind of solved, but it really hasn’t been.”
- According to an internal administration briefing, the administration had only supplied 29% of surgical gowns, 30% of gloves and 4% of boot coverings requested by states and territories as of July 10.
- In June, a National Nurses United survey found that 87% of 23,000 respondents were forced to reuse single use N95 respirators.
- The Trump administration has largely refused to employ the Defense Production Act to scale up domestic manufacturing of protective gear. Only about half of the masks commissioned under the Act will arrive by the end of this year, as the economy reopens and demand grows.
- More than 800 health care workers have succumbed to the virus. In some states, as many as 20% of coronavirus cases are among medical personnel.
Data, Teachers, Experts Show Trump’s Push to Reopen Schools During An Ongoing Pandemic Is Dangerous
Children Are as Likely to Spread the Virus as Adults
- Since May, Trump’s own C.D.C. has warned that fully reopening schools would create “the highest risk” of spread.
- Overwhelming evidence concludes that children can transmit the virus. Experts at Johns Hopkins University, Texas Children’s Hospital and at the University of Minnesota warn that children spread the virus to their families and communities. We have already seen outbreaks at other places children congregate, with outbreaks occurring at a summer camp in Missouri and at child care centers in Texas.
- A large study out of South Korea showed that those between the ages of 10 and 19 are just as likely to spread the virus as adults. In Israel, despite only reporting 10 new cases on the day they reopened schools, May 17, the country was forced to shut down on June 3 because of widespread outbreaks. Since reopening schools, the number of new coronavirus cases in Israel has increased from fewer than 50 a day to 1,500, with 47% of new infections being traced to schools.
Children Can Become Sick From the Virus
- Children and teenagers can become sick and die from coronavirus. In April, the 5-year-old daughter of two Detroit first responders passed away from covid. In June, a second grader in Durham, North Carolina passed away. By May 20, 186 children in 26 states had been infected with a COVID-related multisystem inflammatory syndrome, and four had died.
- Even infants can be impacted by coronavirus. In April, a 5-month-old daughter of a FDNY firefighter passed away from covid. On July 20, it was reported that at least 435 babies had tested positive in North Texas counties since March.
Teachers Don’t Trust Trump to Safely Handle Reopenings
- Teachers and school staff don’t trust the Trump administration to handle reopening schools safely. National Education Association President Lily Eskelsen Garcia blasted Trump for pushing to reopen schools without proper safety protocols in place, stating that the 3 million members of her union were more qualified than Trump and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to know what is needed to open schools safely.
- The death of an Arizona teacher who became infected by one one her colleagues while teaching summer schools forewarns the dangers teachers face by returning to schools during the pandemic.
Trump Has Consistently Downplayed the Threat of the Virus
Despite His Recent Embrace of Mask Wearing, Trump Challenged the Experts and Mocked the Use of Masks
- On June 19, Trump claimed that wearing a mask was contributing to increasing cases because it supposedly forces people to touch their face more. In the same interview, Trump said Americans were wearing facemasks to signal disapproval of him.
- During a press briefing on May 29, Trump accused Reuters White House Correspondent Jeff Mason of wearing a mask at The White House because he wanted to be “politically correct.”
- On May 26, Trump shared a tweet from Fox News’ Brit Hume mocking Vice President Joe Biden for wearing a mask in public.
- On May 7, Trump reportedly told advisers that him wearing a mask would “send the wrong message.”
Trump Continues to Suggest That the Virus Will One Day Vanish
- On July 1, Trump claimed that the virus would “just disappear.”
- On June 17, Trump stated that “The numbers are very minuscule compared to what it was. It’s dying out.”
- On May 15, Trump falsely asserted that the virus would “go away at some point” while downplaying the need for a vaccine.
- Trump on April 28: “This is going to go away.”
- Through March 10, Trump continued to insist “Just stay calm. It will go away.”