President Trump’s decision to remove the pandemic response team has affected the United States’ response to COVID-19, in potentially harmful ways.
The response to the Coronavirus in the United States has been full of inconsistencies and mismanagement. Many of Trump’s announcements have caused confusion and panic among people both at home and overseas. One instance is the US’ European travel ban, which caused thousands of American citizens rushing to airports before they realized the restrictions wouldn’t apply to them according to the New York Post.
This management and inaccurate information is similar to the president’s response to the fallout from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, which cost the lives of about 3,000 people across the island according to CNN.
The magnitude of the coronavirus may not have escalated if the White House’s National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense had remained in operation. However, this council was disbanded during Trump’s administration in 2018.
That same year, the Trump Administration made cuts in funding for the center for Disease Control and Prevention as well as the Complex Crisis Fund. The Complex Crisis Fund would have been helpful in light of this pandemic since they contained millions of dollars for the deployment of disease experts.
In a recent press conference with Yamiche Alcindor, Trump denied having known about these cuts. Trump first states,” I just think it’s a nasty question,” He finishes the statement with “I don’t know anything about it.”
In 2018, Trump wanted spending on healthcare and other related departments down by around $15 billion. Currently, the government is putting billions of dollars into funding that could have been implemented for states already. The current funding is to help them manage the COVID-19 cases within their borders better.
This funding comes in the form of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act that quickly passed through both the House of Representatives and Senate on March 18.
The United States has some of the best medical facilities in the world, yet even with that advantage many parts of the healthcare system in the country are struggling to respond to the pandemic.
In only a few short weeks, Trump’ statements have gone from saying the Coronavirus in the United States is a mild concern to now having to deal with a major outbreak in several states.
As of March 20 there are almost 16,000 cases of COVID-19 reporters across the US population according to Worldometer. Over 200 Coronavirus-related deaths have been reported by Worldometer also.
According to Vox, New York currently holds the largest percentage of cases with California not far behind. New York governor Andrew Cuomo claims that room is running out within the city’s extensive care units. The outbreak is still ongoing and source mentions that nearly 80 percent of the units are at max capacity.
Along with a better response to the pandemic, the return of a pandemic team is necessary to handle this outbreak and any that may come afterwards.