Trump’s coronavirus response is a failure

Echo opinion letter published in the Staten Island, New York electronic newspaper SILive. 

....the coronavirus prompted New York's governor to declare a state of emergency

Let’s hope the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus doesn’t mirror its response to the families of asylum seekers at the border. Trump’s family separation policies traumatized children and showed not only his administration’s lack of concern for others, but it’s gross incompetence. Children were taken from their families, even though the government lacked appropriate facilities to house them and the lack of adequate record-keeping complicated family reunification, adding immeasurably to their distress.

And now another problem hits home with COVID-19, the coronavirus. Only this time we are in the cross-hairs, not “illegal” brown people. So far, Trump’s xenophobia resulted in his knee-jerk reaction to deny entrance for those traveling from China, and he says this has “contained” the outbreak.

This may have stopped some infected people from entering but was a woefully shortsighted attempt to stop the coronavirus. There was, and is, insufficient effort to ramp up testing capacity and this, according to medical experts, is key to stopping community spread of COVID-19.

According to Vice President Pence, one million test kits were supposed to be available by March 6, but this did not happen. Meanwhile, people with symptoms, including health care workers who care for vulnerable populations, are not being tested. This will directly result in more deaths, no matter what Trump says about the “mildness” of the virus.

So far, (stupid!) Donald Trump is more worried about the stock market than the realities of the coronavirus outbreak. He seems unable to give us the facts we need, especially if they may in any way reflect negatively on his administration.

I hope I am wrong and Trump’s incompetence and disinclination to listen to experts will not make this crisis worse. But frankly, I am not hopeful.  From Maria Dolce, an Annadale (Staten Island) resident.