Government responses to emergency situations like the coronavirus outbreak can have a critical impact on the health and wellbeing of the public, and on the economy and society at large. So how have President Trump and his team responded? Will the American people benefit from or be hurt by the actions of the Trump Administration?
Yes, the Trump Administration has responded well to the Coronavirus
The actions taken by the Administration have shown leadership, have calmed the public and the markets, and have shown good decision making in a difficult situation.
President Trump recognized the economic impact of COVID-19 on U.S. citizens and offered a stimulus package to support workers and businesses
COVID-19 has put U.S. citizens out of work who depend on regular paychecks to get by. President Trump also anticipated the damage the pandemic would do on businesses, keeping out-of-work customers from using their services. The president issued a $1200 stimulus check in April and business have already seen significant improvement despite the pandemic.
No, the Trump administration has failed in its response to COVID-19
Delays, botched testing kits, infrastructure degradation, half-truths, have all put the American public at significant risk, and made the dangers of the pandemic much more real.
President Trump downplayed the risk of the pandemic, misleading U.S. citizens and causing them to turn away from precautionary measures
President Trump has left the United States with very little guidance when it comes to COVID-19. He assures the population that the virus will disappear on its own and questions whether a vaccine is entirely necessary. This misinformation confuses the public, seeing as medical professionals’ advice is inconsistent with his own. They claim the virus is far more lethal than President Trump believes.
Trump closed the pandemic response unit and created a COVID-19 task force in its place which caters to his goals rather than to the health of the nation
Both the Obama and Trump administrations saw the need for reorganization of the expansive National Security Council. However, President Trump’s condensing of the directorates led to negligence and prioritization of issues other than COVID-19. With a smaller task force, President Trump finds it easier to take control over public communication about the virus, even if dismissive of medical advice.
President Trump delayed critical response to COVID-19 and only did the bare minimum, which led the United States into a health crisis that could have been curtailed
Although President Trump received enough information to imply an incoming pandemic, he chose only to block flights from China, overconfident that the virus would fizzle out. As a result, time was lost, the US population is at heightened risk, and the United States is behind other nations which started testing and planning for a vaccine far earlier.
The flawed US health and social system is to blame for bad preparation for COVID-19
Most of the world has been faring relatively better than the US during the COVID-19 outbreak, which has exposed flaws in the health and social system in the US. Such as the fact that some Americans refuse to get medical treatment out of fear for the high costs and that the government has been prioritizing closing borders rather than other precautions that have historically been much more helpful during pandemics.
The US Health system is flawed and not value for money
The lack of free healthcare in the United States made the Coronavirus pandemic much worse than it would have otherwise been. Countries with free healthcare for their citizens have dealt with Covid-19 better.
There are large numbers of people with no health insurance in the US
In the United States, healthcare is a privilege of the wealthy. It is not a right. This has exacerbated the devastating effects of the Coronavirus, especially as millions of Americans lose their jobs.
The United States’ wealth disparity leads to a disproportionately vulnerable population
While President Trump’s handling of COVID-19 has been under scrupulous critique, it seems the USA was set up for severe damages due to the country’s profound wealth disparity. A large portion of the population has significantly limited access to healthcare, and is therefore in amplified danger of infection.
