Today is Sunday, July 12, 2020.
Trump’s COVID-19 Death Count is 134,898, and counting.
So, let’s put this in perspective.
Perspective is a good thing to have.
Since January 20, 2020 (that’s 5 months 24 days -or- 25 weeks 0 days -or- 175 calendar days ago), when the first U.S. case of COVID-19 was reported – that of a 35-year-old man in Snohomish County, Washington, who had traveled with his family to Wuhan, China – there have been (and are now at least) 3,269,531 cases of, and 134,898 deaths from, COVID-19 in the United States.
.. and counting.
That averages out to be 18,683 cases, and 771 deaths per day since.
It’s important to emphasize that those are ONLY the deaths which we KNOW were directly caused by COVID-19 infection.
Because there are MANY, MANY more deaths, the causes of which are UNKNOWN (for example, a person receiving cancer treatment and otherwise expected to live, could have contracted COVID-19 and died therefrom, though the cause of death may be listed as “complications from treatment” or the disease process itself, and an otherwise healthy elderly person living at home alone could have died of COVID-19, though the official cause of death might be “unknown” or “natural causes”), we would naturally expect that there are more deaths from or related to COVID-19 than which we are aware.
The CDC’s most recent Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) dated July 10, states that “Among decedents aged <65 years, a total of 7.8% died in an emergency department or at home.”
And so, for that reason, a portion of ALL deaths from non-violent, and otherwise unknown causes, could, and will be attributed to COVID-19. The size of that portion is now largely unknown. But researchers, mathematicians, statisticians, and other scientists will be making such discoveries in the weeks and months ahead, as events begin to either settle in, or settle down, thereby allowing more time to be dedicated to such discovery. The priority now is containment – as much as possible – and search for a preventative cure, aka vaccine.
Concerning the matter of prevention…
Hindsight is 20/20, and fortunately, we know what should have been done, but was not.
Even after numerous National Security debriefings on the matter by the National Center for Medical Intelligence (NCMI), and other agencies as far back as November 2019 – at least THREE MONTHS BEFORE the first known public case of COVID-19 was reported on American soil – Republican President Donald Trump repeatedly and consistently dismissed any concerns and efforts to exercise the proverbial “ounce of prevention.”
To add insult to injury, despite the numerous and repeated warnings, he continuously downplayed the potential severity of the virus’ effect upon America… even after it was confirmed to have been discovered in America.
Moreover, there is substantial reason to believe – based upon evidence – that much of the suffering which our nation is now enduring could have been largely prevented. Perhaps even the first case could have been prevented.
Much, if not most, of the events which have occurred since January 2020 were predicated by responses which occurred at least two years prior, and only recently rapidly accelerated since January.
As far back as February 2018, the POTUS made known his intent to cut, and not renew the CDC’s extra budget allotment which was apportioned to effectively deal with international infectious disease outbreaks to prevent their spread.
In 2014, Congress had approved $600 million in emergency funding to the CDC to be used over a period of 5 years to deal with the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, along with other infectious diseases. By 2018, there was about $150+/- million remaining from that one-time grant. And while the CDC, Department of Health and Human Services, and the National Security Council had all requested additional funding for such preventative services in the president’s 2019 budget, in February 2018, POTUS made his intent clear, that he was not going to entertain any such requests, so the remaining emergency funds allocated from 2014 were on track to be fully spent in 2019, and no portion thereof would be renewed.
The CDC’s core budget has remained largely flat-lined at about $50-60 million annually.
Altogether, the Ebola outbreak in the Congo cost U.S. taxpayers about $5.4 billion in emergency supplemental funding, forced numerous American cities to spend millions in containment, disrupted global business, and forced the the U.S. military to deploy to in order to address and help contain the threat.
However, in the first two weeks of May 2018, Trump announced his budget would cut at least $15 billion from previously-approved funding, including $252 million remaining in unused emergency allocations appropriated by Congress in 2014 to deal with the Ebola outbreak in the Congo.
That same month, under the direction of then-National Security Advisor John Bolton, retired Rear Admiral Timothy Ziemer – who as Director of the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative, had an integral role in reducing African malaria deaths by 50% under Presidents George W. Bush, and Obama, in 2017 had joined POTUS Trump’s National Security Council as Senior Director for Global Health Security and Biothreats to prepare against infectious diseases, create defense strategies against biological weapons, and lead pandemic response – was fired, and the office eliminated.
Ironically, the day before news of his dismissal was made public, Dr. Luciana Borio, MD, Director of Medical and Biodefense Preparedness at the National Security Council, and member of his team, spoke at an Emory University symposium to mark the 100th anniversary of the 1918 influenza pandemic, which killed between 50–100 million people globally, and said in part, “The threat of pandemic flu is the number one health security concern. Are we ready to respond? I fear the answer is ‘no.’”
On January 3, 2020, the President’s Daily Briefs contained significant details from Intelligence reports by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and CIA about COVID-19, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director had discussions with Chinese colleague-cohorts about the coronavirus; and the Department of Health and Human Services was alerted of the report.
On January 7, the CDC established d a COVID-19 Incident Management System. (https://www.cdc.gov/budget/documents/covid-19/CDC-247-Response-to-COVID-19-fact-sheet.pdf)
The next day, January 8, the CDC issued an emergency health advisory entitled as “Outbreak of Pneumonia of Unknown Etiology (PUE) in Wuhan, China” stating that “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is closely monitoring a reported cluster of pneumonia of unknown etiology (PUE) with possible epidemiologic links to a large wholesale fish and live animal market in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. An outbreak investigation by local officials is ongoing in China; the World Health Organization (WHO) is the lead international public health agency. Currently, there are no known U.S. cases nor have cases been reported in countries other than China. CDC has established an Incident Management Structure to optimize domestic and international coordination if additional public health actions are required.” (https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/han00424.asp)
About the 3rd week of January, noting that cable communications traffic had significatly increased, the State Department began repatriating U.S. Diplomats in Wuhan on chartered flights, while a White House colleague mentioned concern for viral transmissibility stating that, “In January, there was obviously a lot of chatter.”
On January 17, the CDC announced that “Public Health Screening to Begin at 3 U.S. Airports for 2019 Novel Coronavirus (“2019-nCoV”)” stating that “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will implement enhanced health screenings to detect ill travelers traveling to the United States on direct or connecting flights from Wuhan, China. This activity is in response to an outbreak in China caused by a novel (new) coronavirus (2019 nCoV), with exported cases to Thailand and Japan. Starting January 17, 2020, travelers from Wuhan to the United States will undergo entry screening for symptoms associated with 2019-nCoV at three U.S. airports that receive most of the travelers from Wuhan, China: San Francisco (SFO), New York (JFK), and Los Angeles (LAX) airports. Martin Cetron, M.D., Director of CDC’s Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, said, “To further protect the health of the American public during the emergence of this novel coronavirus, CDC is beginning entry screening at three ports of entry. Investigations into this novel coronavirus are ongoing and we are monitoring and responding to this evolving situation.” Based on current information, the risk from 2019-nCoV to the American public is currently deemed to be low. Nevertheless, CDC is taking proactive preparedness precautions.” (https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2020/p0117-coronavirus-screening.html)
On January 18, the Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar finally reached POTUS by phone to speak about the coronavirus, but POTUS interrupted him to ask when flavored vaping products would return to market.
On January 22, while attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, POTUS Trump was asked by CNBC Squawk Box host Joe Kernan if he was worried about a pandemic.
JOE KERNEN: It was a couple of years ago. Before we get started– with- we’re going talk about the economy and a lot of other things–the CDC– has identified a case of coronavirus– in Washington state. The Wuhan strain of this. If you remember SARS, that affected GDP. Travel-related effects. Do you– have you been briefed by the CDC? And–
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I have, and–
JOE KERNEN: –are there worries about a pandemic at this point?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: No. Not at all. And– we’re– we have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s—going to be just fine.
JOE KERNEN: Okay. And President Xi– there’s just some– talk in China that maybe the transparency isn’t everything that it’s going to be. Do you trust that we’re going to know everything we need to know from China?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I do. I do. I have a great relationship with President Xi. We just signed probably the biggest deal ever made. It certainly has the potential to be the biggest deal ever made. And– it was a very interesting period of time.
(https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/22/davos-2020-cnbcs-full-interview-with-president-trump.html)
Only two days later, on 24 January, POTUS Tweeted: “China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!” (https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1220818115354923009)
And, on 29 January 2019, the Director of National Intelligence, Daniel R. Coats, released an unclassified public version (the classified version had been previously distributed several months prior) of the agency’s STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD, WORLDWIDE THREAT ASSESSMENT of the US INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY, which specifically stated, in part, that
“We assess that the United States and the world will remain vulnerable to the next flu pandemic or large-scale outbreak of a contagious disease that could lead to massive rates of death and disability, severely affect the world economy, strain international resources, and increase calls on the United States for support.” (Though linked above, that document may also be Global Theat Assessment 2019-ATA-SFR—SSCI.)
Also, on January 29, Peter Navarro, Assistant to the President, Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, and the National Defense Production Act Policy Coordinator, wrote a memo entitled Read the rest of this entry »
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