By Aaron Miller-
The Coronavirus is ”a great national trial for U.S unlike any we have ever faced before”, president Donald Trump told an American audience faced with an emergency crisis on an apocalyptic scale.
This is the first time in several decades any American president has had to deliver such scary news to its multiple inhabitants. In a clear reversal of positions from his previous dismissive outlook of the threat, the president told Americans ”it is a matter of life and death, after a profound two hour question and answers with the press.
“I want every American to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead,” said Mr. Trump, who promised “light at the end of the tunnel,” after warning that “we’re going to go through a very tough two weeks.”
Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx showed charts indicating that coronavirus cases in New York and New Jersey had risen far higher than in other parts of the country. Predictions by America’s top scientists that the pathogen could kill 100,000 to 240,000 Americans as it ravages the country despite social distancing measures closing schools, businesses and all gatherings prepares Americans for frightening months ahead.
With outbreaks in New Orleans, Detroit and other cities accelerating at an exponential rate, experts have expressed doubts that social distancing measures can even stop those outbreaks from rising even more in the next few weeks. Recent estimates in Florida suggest that it may be entering a phase of exponential growth.
Dr. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, stressed that even with those efforts, it was possible that nearly a quarter-million people in the United States could lose their lives.
“As sobering a number as that is, we should be prepared for it,” he said. Trump who was previously aspirational about a speedy end to the lockdown he feared was disrupting the structure of the infrastructure of the American economy was sober in his acknowledgement of how serious the pandemic is.
DATA
The president said the data compiled by Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx convinced him that the death toll would be even higher if the restrictions on work, school, travel and social life is not heeded by all Americans. He added that the virus was a “great national trial unlike any we have ever faced before,” and said it would require the “full absolute measure of our collective strength, love and devotion” in order to minimise the number of people infected.
“It’s a matter of life and death, frankly,” he said, offering a sober assessment of the pandemic’s effect on the United States. “It’s a matter of life and death.” The estimates represent one of America’s worst public health crises, potentially rivalling the deaths caused by many wars and with the capability of destabilising the U.S economy if not successfully contained.