US COVID-19 Death Toll Nears 200,000... Trump’s COVID Defense Line Breached

In March, "Successful if Deaths Are Within 200,000"
Nearly 200,000 Deaths in Less Than 7 Months Since First Fatality
Flu Season Approaches... Twin-demic Concerns Spread

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] As the cumulative death toll from the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in the United States approaches 200,000, criticism is mounting that the Donald Trump administration has effectively failed in its COVID-19 containment efforts. President Trump had set the benchmark for success in containment as keeping deaths under 200,000 back in March, but that threshold is now likely to be breached soon. U.S. health authorities have issued pessimistic forecasts that, if current trends continue, the death toll could exceed 400,000 by the end of this year.

According to COVID-19 statistics from Johns Hopkins University in the U.S. on the 20th (local time), the cumulative number of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. reached 199,469 by that day. This means that in just seven months since the first death on February 29, the death toll is nearing 200,000. The Associated Press reported that the 200,000 death benchmark, which President Trump set as the standard for containment success in March, is about to be broken. On March 29, President Trump held a COVID-19 task force (TF) press conference at the White House and stated, "If we can keep the death toll between 100,000 and 200,000, that would be a great achievement." At that time, Debbie Bux, the COVID-19 TF coordinator, also suggested that keeping deaths under 200,000 would be the criterion for success, saying, "Assuming an almost perfect response to COVID-19, there would be 200,000 deaths in the U.S."

However, given the current trend, the view that surpassing 200,000 cumulative deaths is only a matter of time is gaining traction. Considering that the average daily death toll last week (13th?19th) was 795, surpassing 200,000 deaths is expected to become a reality soon. Local media criticize President Trump for having downplayed the severity of COVID-19, which hindered swift containment measures. According to CNN, at a press conference on February 26, President Trump said, "COVID-19 is like the flu," and "The risk to the American people is very low." Then, just two weeks later on March 13, while declaring a national emergency, he stated, "Because the COVID-19 outbreak will soon pass, it is unnecessary for everyone to be tested for the virus."

President Trump has also been criticized for his long-standing refusal to wear a mask. Since the COVID-19 outbreak began in December last year, he consistently refused to wear a mask and only wore one publicly on July 11. On the 16th of this month, when Robert Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told a Senate subcommittee that "wearing masks is the best defense, even better than vaccines," Trump held a briefing to counter this, claiming "vaccines are much more effective than masks," sparking controversy. Despite the imminent surpassing of 200,000 deaths, President Trump insists that COVID-19 containment is successful. At a White House press conference on the 18th, he said, "We have done an amazing job with COVID-19, and if we had not acted, the death toll in the U.S. would have reached 3 million." He also boldly promised, "We will produce over 100 million vaccine doses by the end of the year and will be able to vaccinate the entire nation by April next year."

U.S. health authorities warn that if a 'twindemic' occurs?where COVID-19 and the flu spread simultaneously?the death toll could surge dramatically. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington School of Medicine projects that if the flu begins to spread this fall and winter, the death toll could reach 415,000 by the end of this year in the worst-case scenario.