The COVID-19 Pandemic has been so horribly mismanaged by Trump and his Very Best Political People that it no longer is adequate to call it “The China Virus”, as is his wont. This catastrophe in the United States can well and truly now only be properly named the 2020 Trump Plague.
A recent Worldwide Data Snapshot of the Viral Pandemic tells the comparative tale.
To belabor an old point, we cannot depend on official government US data to track the viral depredations, because Trump has kneecapped the infectious disease reporting system at CDC, which until he showed up was the Crown Jewel and Envy of the civilized world. No longer.
So, the best data sources are American, but sadly, organized, funded, and staffed by volunteer private sources. The Johns Hopkins CSSE case trackerfor midday August 12, 2020 shows total Worldwide cases of 20.44 million, and 745,000 deaths. The US contribution to that Butcher’s Bill is an awful needless toll of 5.18 million cases, and even worse more than 165,000 deaths, thanks to Trump’s failures.
What’s wrong with those numbers, you ask? Just this. The United States comprises only 4% of the World’s souls. Yet during Trump’s Plague now our country represents 25% of all diagnosed cases in the World, and 22% of all recorded deaths.
These are absolutely shameful numbers reflecting a massive political and leadership failure by America’s President. How can the richest, most advanced country in the World suffer a medical calamity at a rate 4- 5 times worse than its proportional share?
That’s the cumulative 7-month picture as of today.
But there are additional insights available for the most recent time periods. Again, the data are taken from public spirited non-governmental sources, because America’s official data reporting is not up to the job. (Infectious Disease Surveillance that we pay taxes for, until Trump’s cronies in charge fouled up the works.)
Here are nation by nation comparisons of some relevant COVID-19 statistics from Worldometer from this afternoon, August 12, 2020
The first chart lists all countries in the World with more than 200,000 diagnosed cases of COVID-19 (1% or more of Worldwide total). There are 20. To our collective shame we are World Number 1.
We are also World Number 1 in Total COVID-19 Deaths. Worse, our death total is greater than the next two worst countries in the world combined: Brazil and India.
We are also World Number 1 in Total Active COVID-19 Cases at 2.39 million. Amazingly, our number of Active Cases is more than the next 8 highest countries combined: Brazil, India, Russia, South Africa, Mexico, Peru, Columbia, and Bangladesh.
Those are the Raw Number totals.
Let’s look at the population adjusted per capita numbers.
Among all countries with a population of at least 10 million, the US thankfully falls back to only World Number 2 with a rate of 16.1 cases per 1,000 people. Chile wins this dishonor at 19.8 per 1,000.
It has become an unavoidable part of Trump’s COVID Liturgy that the reason for all this bad news is that the US tests more than everyone else in creation, and that’s why our case numbers are so high.
We can check that claim with the same Worldometer data snapshot from today. Here is the list in order of the World’s Most COVID Tested countries, on a per capita basis. It is plain to see that the US is ranked solidly in the leader basement at World Number 19.
We trail such advanced superstar countries as the UK, Singapore, Denmark, Israel, and Iceland, not to mention Bahrain, Cayman Islands, Monaco, and Gibraltar.
After all of Trump’s Ramp Ups and Testing Overpromises since late March with Millions Right Around the Corner (and Billions of $$ Down the Drain to Kushner’s buddies supervising the efforts), we have at last achieved a cumulative seven-month COVID tested rate of 20.3 % in America. Sounds good, if not great.
Until you look and see that Iceland is at 49.3%, Denmark at 31.1%, UK at 27.8%, and Singapore at 27.5%. Further, there are three countries which have actually tested at virtually 100% of their population or greater: Monaco, Luxembourg, and the Faroe Islands.
How is that Luxembourg, a pleasant enough little country in the middle of Europe, tests and treats its citizens five times better than the World’s most powerful and advanced country is able to manage? Only Trump’s Hairdresser knows for sure.
Maybe Jared or Mnuchin should take a side trip for a good government lesson or two.
Alert readers will note that this list is not limited only to large, technically advanced countries, so the US might be disadvantaged by the free for all comparison.
OK, then. Let’s just look at the testing rate for European countries only, the region most similar to the United States in social and economic characteristics in Trump’s Eye of the Beholder. Voila. The US would come in at a mediocre laggard World Number 12 finish, right behind Russia and Lithuania.
The American COVID-19 Pandemic performance led by Trump shown by these number is humiliating and pitiful. For decades we were the World’s leader in Public Health expertise and practice. That was then.
Trump.45 has elevated his own Pubic Health game of ignorance, ineptitude, and incompetence to an historic plane not witnessed in more than a Century. Trump.45 has proven himself and his ragbag of purported senior advisors and managers like Azar, Navarro, Kushner, Mnuchin, and Meadows to be World Class Five-Star Failures.
Or, to put in in plain Trumpian terms, that nasty, puny invisible little virus is kicking his rotund ass all day, every day, in every possible way, all across the USA.
Meanwhile Trump.45 preens and Tweets.