President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania have caught the bug.
We wish them a swift and full recovery.
We wish a swift and complete recovery for our whole nation, for that matter. The United States just must do better against COVID-19.
Yet when we heard, after midnight on Friday, that the Trumps had tested positive for the coronavirus, we understood that development for what it was: The ultimate symbolic metric of the Trump administration’s failure to lead during the pandemic.
The virus sweeps on. People continue to get sick and die.
And now even the president of the United States has caught the bug, despite his best efforts since February to wish it all away.
A strange year just grew stranger. The stakes in this presidential election just grew that much clearer. The coronavirus just caught up with the one man who has tried hardest to deny it.
Not a surprise
That President Trump has contracted the coronavirus should surprise nobody. He has been flouting and mocking the rules of social distancing all year, only occasionally paying lip service to the advice of the experts. He has been the poster child for irresponsible behavior, egging on others to do the same.
Trump’s own view of the matter seems to be that he probably caught the virus from one of his closest aides, Hope Hicks, who in turn probably caught it in the service of being a super patriot, hugging cops and soldiers. If he were to contract the virus too, Trump suggested on Thursday before his own test results came back positive, it probably would be because he’s been such a patriot, too.
“You know, it’s very hard, when you’re with soldiers, when you’re with airmen, when you’re with Marines, and I’m with — and the police officers,” Trump said. “I’m with them so much. And when they come over here, it’s very hard to say, stay back, stay back. It’s a tough kind of a situation.”
This is nonsense, of course. Blaming the military, which is what Trump was doing, is unfair. If anything, the blame game might work the other way around. Given Trump’s risky behavior during the pandemic, those soldiers and cops might have been wise to physically steer clear of him.
Trump at high risk
Trump is in a high-risk group for the coronavirus. He is 74 and overweight. Obesity is at the top of the Centers for Disease Control’s list of dangerous underlying conditions for the coronavirus.
Among COVID-19 patients in their 70s, the death rate for those who were in good health at the time of their infection is estimated at about 10%. For those already dealing with a medical condition, the death rate could be three times as great: 32%.
Yet we don’t even know at this point whether Trump is exhibiting any symptoms of COVID-19. And, in any event, he will receive the best medical care in the world, which could not be said for tens of thousands of other older Americans who have died from the disease.
Our wish for the president and the First Lady is that they never experience a single symptom of the virus. That they go on feeling healthy. That they carefully quarantine and bounce back quickly.
So long, debates
There may be no further debates between Trump and his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, which would be fine by us. The first debate was an embarrassment, largely because Trump behaved like a bully.
There also may be no more pre-election MAGA rallies, which sure would make medical scientists happy. Every MAGA rally, where hundreds or thousands of people crowd together and few wear masks, has been a potential coronavirus super-spreader.
But this presidential election was always going to be a referendum, before all else, on Trump’s handling of the pandemic, which has killed more than 207,000 Americans.
And now, one month before Election Day, the final damning piece of evidence is in:
The president himself has caught the bug.
No more denial
If only Americans could now finally pull together, accepting the folly of denial. If only we could now de-politicize the pandemic and get it under control.
Wear masks. Avoid large gatherings when possible. Shop safely. Hunker down at home. Respect that 6 feet of distance. Support local businesses. Support federal assistance to local economies that have been decimated.
Fight the bug, not each other, and wish good health to all.
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