Too Little, Too Late: Trump Says He's "Gone To School" About COVID-19

 

Donald Trump, who has frequently dismissed the significance of the Covid-19 pandemic and rarely wears masks in public, has contracted the coronavirus and is now in quarantine, he announced early on October 2 on Twitter. Melania Trump has also tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the president said.

It is unclear how Trump contracted Covid-19, though he had been in close contact with aide Hope Hicks who tested positive for coronavirus on October 1. With less than a month to go until election day, a number of the president's key allies have since tested positive for the illness.

Trump was helicoptered to Walter Reed Medical Center after experiencing fever and a drop in his oxygen levels. During a weekend in which he received supplemental oxygen and a cocktail of drugs, Trump said he "understands" and has "learned a lot" about Covid-19. Trump, 74, in a pre-recorded address from the presidential suite, said …

"It’s been a very interesting journey. I learned a lot about Covid. I learned it by really going to school. This is the real school. And I get it, and I understand it, and it's a very interesting thing, and I’m going to be letting you know about it.”

Trump “went to school”? “Real school”? He evidently should have paid attention to “real school” medical advisers and their science lessons long before becoming a victim of COVID-19. Instead of practicing and advocating experts' warnings to social distance, mask, and avoid large crowds, Trump conducted a campaign of mixed messages, distraction, and denials. He has proven he flunked the class of Coronavirus 101 and, perhaps, become a so-called “superspreader” himself.  

We know that Trump has put himself and many, many others in harm's way because of a lack of strict mask and social distancing protocols. He has done so for a perceived political advantage, and he has even encouraged his base of supporters to ignore medical advice. At times, such as during the presidential debate, Trump has even scoffed at such precautions.

Several people who attended a large White House event with Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on September 26 have now tested positive. That ceremony, which included more than 150 mostly unmasked guests sitting close together in the Rose Garden, was a carefree affair seemingly untethered from the pandemic's reality.

“Superspreading” doesn’t have a specific scientific definition. But, roughly defined, it's when one case of a disease causes a disproportionate number of others. It’s thought that much of the viral transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, is due to superspreading. Most people with the virus actually do not pass it on to others. “Ten to 20 percent of infected people may be responsible for as much as 80 to 90 percent of transmission,” Zeynep Tufekci writes in The Atlantic in an overview of the latest research.

(Zeynep Tuffkci. “This Overlooked Variable Is the Key to the Pandemic. The Atlantic. September 30, 2020.)

Superspreaders are made at the intersection of timing (a person is most contagious when their viral load peaks, usually right as they are starting to feel symptoms, or perhaps a bit before), an individual’s biology (some people may be predisposed to spread more than others), the activity (the longer the time spent with a superspreader, the greater the chances of being exposed to the virus), and the environment.

It is very difficult to empathize with a coronavirus patient whose words and actions promoted activities and environments that spread the pandemic. Accountability is the key issue in stopping the virus. Trump has surely lacked answerability for his lack of supporting a common sense, national response to prevent the spread of the virus.

Trump had encouraged governors to reopen their states, focusing the nation’s attention on efforts to revive the economy impacted by the pandemic as the core of his re-election campaign. All the while, he has compared COVID-19 to seasonal flu while rattled a series of misleading claims about the virus. 

In May 2020, Trump unsuccessfully demanded a packed Republican national convention with “no face coverings and no social distancing.” And he also vowed not to order Americans to wear masks to contain the spread of the deadly virus. He has very seldom worn a mask for the world to see and has said that he does wear one when he can’t practice social distancing. He sees the mask as a sign of weakness.

To close, Trump's so-called “interesting journey” with the coronavirus has come full circle to roost at the White House. What is “interesting” to America? If the virus had not infected him, he would have remained skeptical about its deadly presence. But now, his life, his wife's life, and the lives of many of his close political advisers are in jeopardy. It doesn't take a genius to realize this likely resulted from a lack of adhering to simple precautions. 

What have you “learned,” Mr. President? I guess you “will be letting us know.” Most of us already know the truth about COVID-19 because we care more about our fellow human beings than about endangering others during a crowded political spectacle.