General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTrump had three choices for coronavirus lockdowns. Bad, Worse, Catastrophic
Bad: Stringent lockdown for three months. Economy suffers for a few months, but lives are saved.
Worse: No lockdown. Economy suffers from disruptions, but >1 million die.
Catastrophic: Quit on lockdown early: Economy suffers indefinitely because coronavirus never goes away. Hundreds of thousands die.
Guess which one he picked? Catastrophic is the answer. In an attempt to pretend that the virus is a "hoax" and the economy is fine, BOTH SUFFER.
Trump quit on the lockdown early, because he is weak. He wasn't willing to do the hard things that would have ended this nightmare sooner. Now it never ends and every aspect of life suffers.
uponit7771
(90,364 posts)Renew Deal
(81,871 posts)He has never talked about tracing in a serious way.
Initech
(100,102 posts)D23MIURG23
(2,850 posts)That was all lead by the governors. My state (MI) did a pretty hard lockdown and more or less turned things around - covid is still on the decline here. People gave Whitmer shit, but she's looking pretty smart IMO.
Florida's governor fucked around, and now that state is getting hammered.
Trump chose the "no leadership" option, and we got catastrophic by default, because states did not coordinate their responses to match a plan being recommended at the federal level. Trump is weak, but he is also stupid and only concerned with poll numbers and the stock market.
Renew Deal
(81,871 posts)Florida would have locked down if he encouraged it. People would be more likely to wear masks if he didn't say that wearing a mask was a form of dissent against him.
LisaL
(44,974 posts)If he wore a mask, his supporters might have been a lore more likely to wear a mask.
Johnny2X2X
(19,114 posts)The President and his branch of the government have immense power and influence, if he would have put pressure on governors to lock down and stay locked down, it would have happened. Also, if he simply would have worn a mask and urged all Americans to do so we'd be a much better spot by now too.
He abdicated his leadership to the states. He did nothing when lives could have been saved.
LisaL
(44,974 posts)D23MIURG23
(2,850 posts)What he clearly did not do was preside over any kind of a coherent approach to how commerce should be regulated during covid.
Sure he had "influence" - the same kind of "influence" as a Rorschach blot.
chriscan64
(1,789 posts)He "authorized" governors to do what they were already doing, essentially just putting out a meaningless statement giving himself powers he doesn't have. In my state, Texas governor Greg Abbott is trying the "we can do both, reopen and be safe" approach.
Trump is beyond stupid and self-interested. He is so stupid, he can't act in his own interests right. You would think that a selfish president only concerned with how the virus makes him "look bad" would do everything possible to limit the effects of the virus.
canetoad
(17,184 posts)We have been far more proactive that most of the US and to date have 20 deaths, 1900 confirmed cases and 1700 recovered.
When things were looking good, we relaxed our restrictions. Couple of weeks later several clusters of infection have risen. We immediately reverted to more stringent measures.
Seriously, no one could have done more than our (Labor) Premier, Daniel Andrews to contain the spread. Yet it lingers.
Please, USA, learn from the efforts of other countries.
ProfessorGAC
(65,168 posts)We're not doing that until, state by state, people start dying and illness gets so high that the economic impact rivals or surpasses that of a shutdown.
I'm glad Victoria was so alert, but only a few states here are likely to go full measure if it spikes there.
canetoad
(17,184 posts)But we now know the recent outbreaks by name; the Keilor Downs family cluster etc.
Today was the first day that teams of roving health workers are door-knocking in the LGAs (Local Government Areas AKA counties) where the recent outbreaks and spikes have happened. They are equipped with translation material and aim to personally check every household and ensure they are aware of the risks and transmission methods.
This all happened after we relaxed, opened up and became slack about coronavirus awareness.
SouthernCal_Dem
(852 posts)From healthcare to gun violence and now coronavirus, the United States rarely looks to other countries for guidance.
It's quite sad.
malaise
(269,157 posts)and he and his enablers are about to pay for that
LisaL
(44,974 posts)States that had a shut down, but opened up in the middle of it before bringing the virus under control, have their cases going through the roof (as expected).