President Trump has taken important steps to protect public from coronavirus

Editor:

In response to Mr. Fine’s recent letter, he claimed the President is not the blame for the coronavirus but he was slow in responding. His sources for info were the NY Times and Time magazine, along with CNN and MSNBC. They are the best in getting misinformation to the public.

He also used the adjective “lackluster” in responding to the virus. Let us look at the facts and have a comparison to make an intelligent evaluation..

It is suspected by the health experts that this flu started in October or November in Wuhan, China. China did not give any notice to the world until January 2020 and then downplayed it with the help of WHO (World Health Organization) which acknowledged a respiratory issue but they were not sure if was human to human transmission.

Keep in mind the House of Representatives tied up Washington for much of November, December and January with the phony impeachment of President Trump. At the end of January, he stopped travel between the US and China. He was not praised for this step but criticized by Joe Biden who said, the President was a xenophobe or racist for that action.

The President also assembled a team of health experts which has been led by VP Pence. That group has been doing an excellent job and keeping Americans up to date on testing and developing improvements to a system that was not made for this huge pandemic. With the President red tape has been cut to try to develop a vaccine and therapy drugs to stem this virus.

President Trump declared a State of Emergency on March 13, six weeks after stopping travel from China. Our first case of this virus was in January in the State of Washington. My first comparison involves the pandemic In 2009 described as H1N1 flu in the US which was discovered in April of 2009.

The President did not declare a State of Emergency until October 24, 2009 or six months after we saw the first case. As I write this, the totals in the US for the coronavirus are 50,000 have tested positive and 600 have died. My second comparison involves the 2009 pandemic which was discovered in April 2009 and lasted until April 2010 when the swine flu was considered over.

The CDC did not track this pandemic like what is being done now with 24/7 news. They have given approximate numbers which you can check on their website. They estimated in the US that between 61 million to 89 million Americans had the flu. They estimated that 195,000 to 402,000 were hospitalized. They also estimated that 9000 to 18,000 died and worldwide 500,000 died. All of these numbers do not paint a pretty picture but the health experts have claimed that the Covid-19 virus is three times more contagious then the swine flu. Someone is doing a great job in protecting the American public.

This flu is dangerous. It kills older people in particular. President has said each life is important to him and he wants to protect all regardless of age, gender, nationality or political leanings. I trust him and think he has done a superb job. Take the politics out of the situation and judge the results.

Ray Watt

Town of Yates