Colleen Nakhooda
I decided to write an article on my opinions surrounding Donald Trump and the Coronavirus, whether it was the reality of his current diagnosis or the way he has handled COVID as a president. But, I also decided that it was important to educate myself on the matter before being able to create a formal opinion article. So, from this mind bottling, midnight thought of an article for Retrospect… I have decided to share my discoveries with the HB community. Except, unlike most news sources, this article will consist of a series of blocks of information that are unbiased and sorted by facts, and the others will be my personal and educated opinion on Donald Trump and all things COVID-19 central.
A side note: I understand that Donald and the First Lady Melania Trump along with a few other members of his team are affected by the Coronavirus currently, and although I do not support Donald Trump nor his team, I do not wish any sickness or ill-will upon him nor his family.
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So let’s get down to business, here are some major facts and official decisions that Donald Trump has made about the Coronavirus.
What regulations and funding has Donald Trump given and enforced on behalf of the Coronavirus?
Sourced from: whitehouse.gov
- President Trump is issuing a proclamation under section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to restrict travel to the United States from foreign nationals who have recently been in certain European countries. He has also permitted any travel to China.
- President Trump has instructed the Small Business Administration (SBA) to exercise available authority to provide loans to businesses affected by the coronavirus.
- President Trump signed into law more than $8 billion to fund response efforts.
- Testing is now available in every State lab in the country and commercial labs are now deploying tests, which will help generate a dramatic increase in availability.
What are the facts on Donald’s COVID-19 positivity and what has he said about Corona since it has begun?
- A few minutes before 1:00 am on October 2nd, Donald Trump announced through a Facebook tweet that he, and Melania Trump had tested positive for COVID-19.
- After being hospitalized for his condition throughout his positive test, he was given a series of medications. Trump received a single dose of Regeneron’s antibody cocktail, which Conley stated in a letter. This particular treatment is undergoing clinical trials but has not yet been approved by regulators. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that because of Trump’s age he was “at a higher risk for severe illness” from the virus. His doctor’s said Trump will be monitored closely for the wide range of common symptoms which include fever, chills, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle ache and headache.
- After coming in contact with a positive COVID patient Hope Hicks, he then attended a large fundraiser at his golf club in New Jersey where others confirmed he exhibited symptoms of COVID-19 while exposing himself to hundreds of others.
- It is a fact that “he has defied medical advice by seldom wearing a mask and often meeting with large groups of people”. This has been a major defining factor to his contraction of the Coronavirus.
Moving on to fact checking of some things that Donald Trump has stated regarding the Coronavirus and his own positive COVID state: factcheck.org
- Donald Trump was quoted telling Americans to not let Coronavirus “dominate you,” saying, “You’re going to beat it.” Of course, not everyone has or will survive, and some survivors will have lasting effects.
- The president made a flawed comparison between COVID-19 and seasonal flu, incorrectly saying that “sometimes over 100,000” people die from flu each year. The highest estimated death toll from the flu in the past decade was in 2017-2018, with 61,000 deaths.
- Saying COVID-19 vaccines “are coming momentarily,” the president once again exaggerated when the public can expect to get a coronavirus shot.
- Of course, not everyone is going to “beat it.” More than 210,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the United States, and more than 1 million worldwide.
- Trump’s claim that COVID-19 is “in most populations far less lethal” than the flu is misleading. Experts say that overall, COVID-19 is more deadly than seasonal flu, for which the mortality rate is “usually well below 0.1%,” according to the World Health Organization.
Now to the biased and opinionated part of this article…
After doing research to find legitimate facts and approved governmental regulations that have been set in place since the first cases of the Coronavirus in late December, I will be dedicating the second part of this article to my own opinionative paragraphs based on the facts and decisions made above.
How downplaying COVID-19 has affected the entire country and others… (more facts in blue)
Since day one of the Coronavirus in the United States, Donald Trump has downplayed the risks of death and the severity of the sickness at hand to all Americans. From all of the news sources that I have read, and the live media reports I have watched, Donald Trump has constantly referred to COVID as a hoax, and has oftentimes degraded safety guidelines from sources such as WHO and the CDC. Quite frankly the most frustrating thing as an American to have to deal with is the fact that he is not only not clear about Coronavirus at hand, but is causing harm to others by not setting a good example. On Saturday September 26th, he hosted a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden to announce his nominee for the Supreme Court. There were at least a hundred people in attendance at this event including guests, press, security, and food/beverages servers. Many did not wear masks at all at this large event and at least 8 people have since tested positive since attending this event including the president and the First Lady. Trump then attended the presidential candidate event in Cleveland where him and his family were seen without masks as well. Imagine how many people those positive test patients then came in contact with, and then how many of those people would test positive for Corona and the cycle continues. Just by attending two events, Donald Trump has put a number of people at the risk of a deadly disease against the suggestions of not holding large mainstream events as such.
Donald has also made rude remarks against Vice President Joe Biden FOR wearing a mask at certain events as well. I find it extremely disrespectful to make comments about a man in the older age realm not only regarding his appearance, but especially in a time where wearing a mask is crucial to decreasing the spread of COVID-19. Donald Trump has also not discouraged his wide following base from not wearing masks. He has never specifically said to a group of followers or fans to wear a mask but instead encourages them for their support to him instead of creating a substantial role modelism to prevent the spread of the disease. The Coronavirus death toll has surpassed 100,00 deaths in the US. And in my eyes, so many of these deaths could have been avoided if Trump would have taken action against the virus earlier and taken time to understand the immense damage that it can cause to all Americans and their communities. Trump himself attended a number of events without wearing a mask, and without obtaining social distancing measures, and now is in the midst of his Coronavirus positive diagnosis. He is putting so many people at risk, while still not wearing masks at public events, and putting his staff, family, and the general public in a high risk of getting or spreading the infection. Other leaders around the world have warned their people about the danger and fatality of COVID-19 while helping to guide their people to make safe actions and decisions based on self respect, and empathy towards others that are at high risk. Whereas Donald Trump has encouraged the non-use of face masks, referred to COVID-19 as a democratic hoax, and misled millions of Americans about the danger that COVID causes, while denouncing scientific evidence from the CDC.
All of this in my opinion, makes me so ashamed and utterly frustrated with our country. In my eyes, more seniors are going to miss out on all of the opportunities they should be granted next year, more senior citizens are going to die after not getting to hug their children and grandchildren for months, more college sports and school years are going to be through a hybrid model, and we will all still be wearing masks and keeping social distancing measures if Donald Trump does not directly create a plan to attack the Coronavirus.
Other countries are starting to get back to a normal life. Some countries like Italy and China that were in the center of the pandemic and experienced massive loss in the population and economy, are starting to regain control of the virus. If a country with even more deaths and an even greater population can gain control of a virus in a matter of months, the US can do the same. Even though Coronavirus will not be obliviated without a vaccine, which is not President Donald Trump’s fault, there are ways to help the country get back to normal life without the fear of being completely shut down in a matter of days. With cases rising, something or someone needs to do something about the way Donald Trump has handled the Coronavirus. If not, I do not know when I will be able to write in my journal entry and say, I can go back to school and we are all together again, or I got to hug my great grandma for the first time in months, or we I played volleyball without wearing a mask in warmups, and so many other “I got to do (blank)”…
https://www.npr.org/sections/latest-updates-trump-covid-19-results/2020/10/03/919898777/timeline-what-we-know-of-president-trumps-covid-19-diagnosis
https://www.vox.com/2020/6/8/21242003/trump-failed-coronavirus-response
HB IN RETROSPECT 
Our views on the subject are quite similar. I would like to say that even in your ‘biased’ argument, it wasn’t really biased because it was backed up with so many facts. Enough facts to change someone’s opinions. You educated someone today. Great job, Colleen.