13/03/2020
In the past two weeks I have witnessed media pundits, politicians, and citizens alike induce fear and panic through hypocritical, politically driven lies. It is disgusting that COVID-19 is being used as political leverage to undermine the president and current administration. Every narrative that the media has peddled concerning the virus has been strategically delivered to undermine the decisions that President Trump has made that will ultimately ensure that the lives of US citizens are protected. Before any drastic measures were taken, leftist politicians and our "trusted" media outlets began beating the political drum and associating this virus with Donald Trump. They started the blame game before the first cases were ever confirmed in the US. When the world only knew what the Chinese government was divulging, leftist politicians and media talking heads began concocting their plans to associate the virus as a failure of our president. The panic instilled by the leftist propaganda machine has caused unprecedented closures of public schools, cancellations of major events and an outright state of fear. COVID-19 is definitely an illness we shouldn't take lightly, and it deserves the caution we would afford other infectious diseases, but it is not an apocalyptic, species ending, virus.
Lets examine the events of the past couple months in more detail.
Early January: We started hearing about the virus that had been discovered in China a month earlier. Not much was known, we knew it was infecting people in the tens of hundreds. It was too early in the viruses life cycle to draw our own conclusions and the Chinese government was not releasing much information. The CDC Issues a health advisory as they begin gathering information.
Mid to Late January: After collecting data, the CDC says that they expect to see additional cases globally of the unknown virus.
January 20th - 1st Case of Coronavirus in US confirmed in man returning from China.
January 25th - At this point there are around 1,000 Cases worldwide including China.
January 29th - The White House announces a coronavirus task force and begins plans to combat the spread of the virus. US Dept of Health and Human services declares public health emergency.
January 30th - WHO declares a public health emergency and urges travelers to avoid China.
January 31st - Trump Administration declares US public health emergency and institutes blocks to stop travelers from entering the US from China. 200 Americans were evacuated from China and quarantined on a military base in California.
February 1st - WHO Says 10,000 cases worldwide, 3 in US
Feb 2nd - First Coronavirus death outside of China.
February 6th - 25,000 confirmed cases worldwide
February 7th - Trump speaks to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Virus action plans.
February 10th - Coronavirus surpasses SARS total cases.
February 11th - WHO names virus COVID-19
February 19th - 75,000 Cases
February 24th - The White House requests $2.5 Billion to Combat Coronavirus.
February 25th - CDC announces that virus will likely spread to US
February 29th - CDC confirms first Death in US due to COVID-19 and underlying health problem. White House issues travel warnings for South Korea, Iran and Italy.
March 4th - Vaccine Trials begin in Seattle
March 5th - Ohio receives first testing Kit
March 9th - CDC recommends avoiding cruise travel and large gatherings for older citizens.
Verifies 78 labs in all 50 states have diagnostic tests for COVID-19.
March 11 - WHO Declares COVID-19 a Pandemic and White House announces travel bans on European nations with increasing case numbers. Donald Trump issues comprehensive measures to increase SBA loan availability by $50B, tax payment deferments for individuals impacted by the virus equaling $200B in liquidity for economy, calls for congress to pass payroll tax relief, financial relief for workers who are ill, quarantined and caring for others due to virus. $8B in COVID-19 response fund signed into law. 1 Million tests were already distributed nationwide, 4 million shipping by 3/15. The test kits will be provided at no cost to individuals beyond their insurance copay.
March 13 - President Trump spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron and organized a web conference with world leaders to layout a global response plan for COVID-19. He declares the COVID-19 pandemic a national emergency to invoke the Stafford Act and free up an additional $42B in the Disaster Relief Fund.
Between January 20th and March 13th the US went from 1 confirmed case to approximately 1,800 cases and 41 deaths at the time of writing this. 22 of those deaths came from a single nursing home in Washington.
Compared to other nations in the same time period (approximate to time written):
Italy - 1 Case Jan 31st to 15,100 and 1,016 Deaths March 13th
Iran - First 2 Cases February 19th to 11,360 and 514 Deaths March 13th
Spain - 1 Case February 1st to 4,330 and 122 Deaths March 13th
Germany - 1 Case January 27th to 3,150 and 7 Deaths March 13th
South Korea - 1 Case January 20th to 7,979 and 66 Deaths March 13th
France - 1st Cases January 24th to 2,882 Cases and 61 Deaths March 13th
That timeline is a collection of facts, all of it can be verified. As laid out, it is plain to see that the US and President Trump have responded in line with what WHO and CDC officials have recommended in a timely and even expeditious fashion. Trump downplaying the virus early on was not a result of his ignorance, it was more likely an attempt to minimize panic and remain optimistic amid the growing fears of Americans. Many of those fears were based solely on the irresponsible journalism and politically motivated propaganda that "trusted" news networks provided to American citizens. The president can only base the decisions that impact US citizens on what the experts have told him. The Trump Administration was well ahead of the curve and took action much earlier than most developed nations did. This is evidenced by the massive influx of cases in Europe that we did not experience in the US through late January and early March. If it were not for his early response in blocking travel to and from China, we would likely be in a situation much like the countries detailed above who did not enact counter measures until the virus had already taken a foothold in their countries. This virus was going to go global no matter what efforts were made and as far as I can tell, we've done better than many countries so far in managing the spread on a much larger scale.
According to the CDC and WHO, this virus has a very high mortality rate (relative to other respiratory illnesses like it) for individuals with specific pre-existing medical conditions and the numbers we are seeing so far support this. Anyone whose immune system is suppressed or compromised is at a much greater risk than healthy individuals. This is especially true of the elderly and those over 70 years old. The overwhelming majority of healthy children and adults have minimal risk of death. In fact some people may not show any symptoms at all but can still be contagious which poses a major obstacle in combating the spread. Couple this with the ability for the virus to live outside of the body for extended periods, and incubation periods lasting as much as two weeks, you have a recipe for a rapidly spreading and hard to contain virus. These characteristics are why we are seeing restrictions to social space behaviors and limiting exposure to large groups of people to slow the spread. Slowing the spread or "flattening the curve" as some call it, enables our medical infrastructure to keep up with the case numbers and ensure proper care is available to those who need it. COVID-19 has already claimed American lives and it will claim more. There is a real potential for the virus to kill thousands more if our hospitals become overwhelmed and cannot efficiently provide care to patients in critical condition. Failing to slow the spread is the real threat, as we can see it unfolding this way in Italy. We all should do what we can, as members of our communities to reduce the spread of this virus through good hygiene practices and limiting our exposure to others who may be vulnerable if we have any suspicions we may have be in contact with the virus.
In addition to the medical threat, there is undoubtedly a global economic threat. The illness is shutting down avenues of commerce, limiting the flow of necessary goods like medical supplies and pharmaceutical drugs and shutting down entire companies. It's stopping trade and will result in people sitting at home unpaid to take care of children who aren't in school or simply because their place of work is shut down. This virus will bring economic hardship to millions of people worldwide and the markets are going to be devastated until its under control. Retirements may be delayed, companies may go under and people may go bankrupt. I hope we can recover before we see this unfold, but from where we currently stand it's hard to see this not creating a huge financial strain on the American people.
Mark my words, the Democrats and Mainstream Media will not let this crisis go to waste. The market crash will be used disingenuously to skew numbers and understate the effectiveness of Trump's economic strategy as we get closer to the election. It will be used to exaggerate the need for social programs and increased tax revenue. The medical obstacles and costliness of treatments will be ammunition in support of socialized healthcare. News Outlets and Democrats (maybe even some establishment Republicans) are going to say that Donald Trump is responsible for people dying. I would not be surprised to hear them say something as bold as "Donald Trump is a murderer" because of how the administration handled this virus, no matter how effective the response turns out to be. They're going to tell us how he is the reason people are out of work, or went bankrupt and he is the reason the economy crashed. Do not let them get away with these injustices.
Remember this when you hear them say those things. Remember who tried to capitalize on the plight of the American people and who was working to protect them.
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