President Trump ’s COVID-19 Recklessness Will Bring More Illness, Death and Suffering

Here’s where we are: Donald J. Trump, the President of the United States and the most powerful person on the planet, is sick with COVID-19. We do not know with any confidence how ill he truly is; both his physician and White House officials have been unclear and evasive. Journalists’ fascination with Trump’s health may seem morbid, but the presidency confers enormous power—and the example he sets shapes people’s response to the pandemic. The official line is that Trump is improving and is set to be released Monday evening. But he’s receiving a battery of medicinal firepower, some of it experimental, that suggests either he’s sicker than we’re being led to believe, or that his doctors are being unusually aggressive with his treatment—a move that could be risky, or could be exactly the right strategy. Either way, this virus is vicious, and a person who seems to be doing well in their battle against it one hour can easily take a turn the next. If President Trump’s health remains a mystery, his attitude and behavior towards the virus do not. Soon after posting a video on Sunday claiming that he “gets it,” Trump—still potentially contagious—shortly left the hospital for a joyride to greet supporters gathered nearby. In doing so, he put the members of his Secret Service detail at serious risk of contracting the virus themselves, despite their precautions, like wearing masks while in the car. &ldquo...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 Source Type: news