Senator Susan Collins is wrong to defend Donald Trump's botched coronavirus response

Moving past a botched beginning- echo opinion published in the Bangor Daily News

Dear Senator Collins, "Trump spent weeks downplaying the coronavirus and failing to prepare..."

The coronavirus is continuing to spread in Maine, and Gov. Janet Mills and Dr. Nirav Shah of the Maine Center for Disease Control are pleading for more help from the federal government. Dr. Shah has repeatedly called for more personal protection equipment (PPE), even saying that current supplies amount to an umbrella in the midst of a hurricane.

As a physician, I am horrified that our medical teams, and their families, have not been fully protected. Now that the national supply of PPE has run out, we are in a bidding war with other states that the federal government should be organizing with a consistent strategy.

Sen. Susan Collins defended Donald Trump in an interview with the Bangor Daily News saying he “did a lot that was right in the beginning.” How can that be true? Trump spent weeks downplaying the coronavirus and failing to prepare.

The first moments of a medical emergency are the most important to respond to quickly. If not, the outcomes worsen and the rest is catch-up.

Trump continues to contradict public health experts and berate reporters who ask him reasonable questions about the response. He has undeniably made this crisis worse with his confusing responses using denial and premature medical proclamations as strategies.

The beginning of this pandemic was botched. Let us acknowledge that, even if Collins does not, and move forward with our state responses as best as we can. Most fortunately, we have teams we can trust to be smart, flexible and collaborative in these difficult times. We are all in this together, so let’s figure it out.

Rep. Patricia Hymanson