In Sickness and In Politics, Part 2

This is how the 2020s begin.  A rampant worldwide plague called coronavirus aka COVID-19, begun in China, has been taking a deadly tool for the past few weeks.  The approximate numbers as of March 26:

Worldwide (from worldmeters.info)                         U.S. (from worldmeters.info)

530,000 cases                                                                83,000 cases
23,000 deaths                                                               1209 deaths
123,000 recoveries                                                       1800 recoveries

Life as we used to know it has shut down in many places.  Businesses, except for the most essential ones, are closed.  Sports, entertainment and other events have either been postponed or canceled.  "Social distancing" and "community spread" have become part of the language.  The economy has cratered, leaving thousands out of work and many others working from home.

Some city and state officials have adopted "stay at home" mandates as a way of maybe keeping the spread of the virus at bay.  They have become far more trustworthy so far than the federal government, who seemed to have been asleep at the switch in the weeks since the crisis began.  There has been little to no planning when it came to getting tests ready, providing enough masks and ventilators to hospitals, quarantining already sick patients, etc.  Reportedly, some U.S. Senators have been taking advantage of the situation by dumping their stocks in certain firms.

Much of the blame has fallen on President Donald Trump.  He's cut the budget and the research of federal health agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control.  He's blamed the virus as a hoax perpetrated by China and the Democratic Party, refers to himself as the "wartime president", and claims he can get America back to work by Easter.

Trump has also pretty much muzzled his staff when it comes to the seriousness of the pandemic, with the notable exception of Dr. Anthony Faudi.  As director of the National Institute of Allergy and as a member of the President's coronavirus task force, he is one of the few officials willing to give people  credible, straightforward information that lacks it.

Unfortunately, Trump is having a star turn right now with his daily news briefings.  Bereft of his bloviating political rallies, the President has been using valuable network air time to (A) misinform and downplay the nature of the situation, (B) making snide comments about his opponents, and (C) ripping into an NBC reporter who dared to ask if had any encouraging words for the American people.  This is what he's been doing for years, so why stop now?  Faced with the dilemma of having to cover a president with an attitude at the worst possible time in history, the networks now just cover Trump's opening remarks before returning us to regular programming.

While America and most of the world stays at home for however long it takes for COVID-19 to pass, we know this:  the number of cases and the death toll WILL rise.  Hospitals WILL be overwhelmed.  Governments, in spite of themselves, WILL come up with some kind of solution.  For now, we can all hope for the best and expect the worst.