The death toll due to coronavirus crossed 100,000 mortalities in the United States. This is the highest number of deaths reported in any country in the world. The death toll is increasing day by day during the outbreak of coronavirus in the US.
President Donald Trump responded to this situation by claiming it to be China’s fault solely. He also claimed that the government-controlled the pandemic in the US by banning international flights from China.
Several factors contributed to the high death toll in the United States. One of them is Trump’s lack of response to the Other major factors include the negligence of the federal government which led to a delayed response to Covid-19. The people were also fed false hopes based on poor scientific logic.
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Dr. Anthony Fauci is a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force in the US. He predicted early in March that nearly 100,000 to 200,000 people will die of coronavirus in the US. However, Trump took a different approach and said that the death toll will not exceed 50,000 to 60,000 fatalities on April 20. He jumped his estimate to 70,000 within a week and said that the death toll will be between 80,000 to 100,000 on May 4.
Most of the countries in the world started taking notice of the coronavirus in China as soon as early January of 2020. The first case of coronavirus reported in December in the Hubei province of China. The World Health Organization (WHO) published news about a novel virus causing pneumonia-like symptoms on January 5. So far, the US was not concerned with the coronavirus as it had no confirmed cases.
During that time, the security officials of the US were warning Trump about the afore coming pandemic. Trump initially applauded the efforts of China in containing the coronavirus pandemic. Later, he banned travel from China in late January.
On February 6, the first patient died due to coronavirus in the US. The White House continuously declined all warnings of a possible pandemic. The Trump administration, however, established a task force to fight the pandemic with Vice President Mike Pence leading from the front. Meanwhile, there were shortage kits and many cases went undetected which contributed to the spread of coronavirus.
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On March 11, Trump announced to provide economic relief to the nation amid the ongoing crisis. He also banned international flights from Europe. Shortly after the announcement, California implemented a stay at the home policy on March 19.
The US economy suffered a halt when more than 30 states implemented to shut down by the end of March. Trump spent most of this time promoting the use of non-recommended drugs for the treatment of coronavirus. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning that hydroxychloroquine, the drug recommended by Trump, can lead to heart disease.
Trump praised China continuously during early 2020. However, he blamed the pandemic entirely on China during April. During May, Trump lifted his blaming policy and claimed that the US took enough measures against the coronavirus. Until now, the death toll due to coronavirus in the US has reached 100,000 which is the greatest number of deaths in the world.