President Donald Trump directly contradicted the government’s health experts this week, just as the White House told some officials not to speak publicly about the coronavirus without permission.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Trump placed Vice President Mike Pence over the White House’s coronavirus task force, which is chaired by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.
One of Pence’s responsibilities is to restrict the flow of information about the coronavirus from the administration.
While announcing Pence’s new role, Trump made statements that omitted crucial information, were misleading or false.
First, what can you do to prevent the coronavirus from spreading?
Take the same precautions that you would during flu season. Wash your hands, cover coughs and sneezes, don’t touch your face and stay home if you’re sick.
Are the number of new infections going down in China?
Trump said: “And if you can count on the reports coming out of China, that spread has gone down quite a bit. The infection seems to have gone down over the last two days. As opposed to getting larger, it’s actually gotten smaller.”
According to the Chinese government, new infections have been going down there, but that misses the broader point that new cases are growing internationally. On Thursday, the World Health Organization said that the number of new cases around the world began to exceed new cases in China this week.
Is the United States “rapidly developing” a coronavirus vaccine?
Pharmaceutical companies around the world are working to develop a coronavirus vaccine.
Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday that a vaccine prototype has been developed.
However, that doesn’t mean the public will have immediate access, because vaccines spend months in clinical trials to ensure they’re safe and effective. Fauci said that clinical trials for the prototype will take at least a year to complete.
Did a Johns Hopkins study rank the United States No. 1 for being prepared for an epidemic?
Last October, the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security released a report ranking 195 countries on how prepared they are for a pandemic, which occurs when an infectious disease spreads throughout the world.
The United States scored No. 1 overall, earning 84 out of 100 points. Researchers ranked the US No. 1 in most categories, but in the area of epidemic response, the US fell in second place. The United States was ranked 19th for its vulnerability to biological threats.
The United States also scored in the bottom tier for access to healthcare, partially due the high out-of-pocket costs that Americans face.
But considering the United States scored just 84 out of 100 and was still ranked No. 1, the global picture isn’t rosy.
Researchers concluded that “no country is fully prepared for epidemics or pandemics. Collectively, international preparedness is weak.” Many countries’ health systems lack the capacity and ability “to prevent, detect, and respond to significant infectious disease outbreaks.”
Does Trump believe coronavirus will spread to the United States?
On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention held a press conference with Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the Director of CDC’s Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. She said the agency expects coronavirus to spread to communities in the United States.
“It’s not so much a question of if this will happen anymore, but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illness,” Messonnier said.
Asked directly if he agreed, Trump said: “Well, I don’t think it’s inevitable. It probably will. It possibly will. It could be at a very small level or it could be at a larger level. Whatever happens, we’re totally prepared.”
Trump repeated several times that the coronavirus might not spread to US communities, directly contradicting Messonnier.
What did Trump say about the stock market?
In response to the coronavirus, the stock market fell throughout the week. On Thursday, the three major stock indexes had record-breaking losses, and the S&P 500 was down 15 percent from last week.
Just a day before, Trump falsely blamed this week’s Democratic debate for the stock market’s performance multiple times.
“I think they look at the people that you watched debating last night and they say, ‘If there’s even a possibility that can happen,’” he said. “I think it really takes a hit because of that.”
Contact Big If True editor Mollie Bryant at 405-990-0988 or bryant@bigiftrue.org. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
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