The spread of the deadly coronavirus has deeply concerned the international community, which is now dealing with more cases in more countries each day. The Washington Post describes the current situation:
"In South Korea, coronavirus cases surged 14-fold over a week, creating the largest center of infection outside of China. In Singapore, clusters of infection have been traced to two churches, a hotel business meeting, a health products shop and a construction site. In Italy, health authorities confirmed roughly 50 cases over the past two days, making it the largest outbreak in Europe. In Iran, an outbreak has seeded new cases in Lebanon and Canada — a worrisome sign the disease could be spreading more widely than realized.
There are outbreaks. There are epidemics. And there are pandemics, where epidemics become rampant in multiple countries and continents simultaneously. The novel coronavirus that causes the disease named covid-19 is on the verge of that third, globe-shaking stage." (our emphasis)Disease control specialists and immunologists world wide are racing to develop and effective vaccine, whose incubation time is roughly two weeks. As new cases arise, the sleuthing begins to trace infected patients' contacts to determine new exposures.
We're also learning that within the White (Supremacist) House there's a growing panic over the political cost of an epidemic in the U.S. in an election year. Malignant narcissist and sociopath Donald "Impeached Forever" Trump and his enablers are seeing the spread of the coronavirus through the lens of Trump's own self-interest, per reports:
"....the White House remains worried about growing economic risks, with Chinese production plunging in recent weeks and U.S. companies like Apple and Walmart with significant investments in the country reporting they’re taking financial hits. Senior officials fear that a sustained outbreak could slow global markets and upend a strong U.S. economy that has been central to Trump’s political pitch." (our emphasis)The fact that Trump slashes the 2021 budget for the Centers for Disease Control's response to emerging infection diseases by 13% alone should be in the talking points of every Dem candidate. Any failures in the response to this health emergency fall directly on him, not the public health officials that are struggling to protect us.
