More Than 20,000 Americans Have Died of COVID-19 in The Past 6 Weeks

The COVID-19 death toll in the United States has now eclipsed 20,000 people.

As of this writing, 20,283 Americans have died of the Coronavirus. More than 40% (42.4%) of these deaths have taken place in New York State. The United States has now supplanted Italy as the county with the highest COVID-19 death toll. All of these deaths have occurred in the space of six weeks. The 1st COVID-19 death in the United States occurred on February 29th at a long term care facility in Kirkland, Washington.

More than half a million Americans have tested positive for COVID-19 (522,286). Based on these numbers, that makes for a fatality rate of 3.9%. In early March, the WHO indicated the global fatality rate was 3.4%. But President Trump dismissed that figure claiming it was "a false number" and was "way under one percent." Would you buy hydroxychloroquine from this man?

President Trump didn't cause COVID-19, but his policies helped spread it even as he was being warned of its danger. Speaking of six weeks, it took six weeks from the time the U.S. got its first Coronavirus case until President Trump saw fit to implement social distancing measures. Trump's own HHS Secretary Alex Azar was warning him that a pandemic was coming to the United States in January and Trump dismissed him as alarmist. Between February 26 and March 16, this country went from 15 positive tests for COVID-19 to 4,226. During which time Trump dithered and insisted everything was contained and under control:

The number of infections in the United States started to surge through February and early March, but the Trump administration did not move to place large-scale orders for masks and other protective equipment, or critical hospital equipment, such as ventilators. The Pentagon sat on standby, awaiting any orders to help provide temporary hospitals or other assistance.

This is bad enough, but add the fact Trump spends his time being his usual belligerent self towards the media and his political adversaries and boasting of his ratings while hundreds of Americans are dying every day. A more responsible President couldn't have stopped COVID-19 from reaching the United States, but he or she could have prevented the deaths of 20,000 plus people in a month and a half. The fact President Trump could not do so will be the sad legacy of his presidency.