The horse has left the barn. In the USA, the possibility of containing the coronavirus COV-19 infection is a moot issue to where it is now a matter for mitigation. Even the majority of GOP US Congressional lawmakers are no longer echoing the republican President Donald Trump’s attempt to message this health crisis as a hoax due to media hysteria.

As many of the president’s allies turn away from him on this issue, it won’t be long before the dark money corporate donors will also be wishing that they had never heard of the name, President Donald J. Trump. They are already participating in an economic free-fall, watching a lot of their economic gains go down the toilet due to this president’s leadership. Who knows? They may even come to appreciate the existence of a high functioning, effective government infrastructure with a “deep state” of competent career employees.

Because China’s demand for oil has declined due to the widespread COV-19 infection that’s permeating its country and while Russia and Saudi Arabia couldn’t come to terms about how to deal with the lower demand for its oil resources, oil prices are seeing record low prices. The US tourist, airline, cruise industries are in a steep decline. Consumers are cutting back on attending any functions where there will be groups of folks within an enclosed space, out of fear of contracting this coronavirus.

Since around 2/19/2020 when the US stock market had hit record highs, it has dipped about 18% as of today 3/9/2020 because of the coronavirus scare in the USA and falling crude oil prices.

When the coronavirus COV-19 test kits eventually become more available where patients can legitimately be tested, where it’s no longer a “Mission Impossible” venture, the number of those infected will show a sharp increase, putting the lie to president’s attempt to downplay this US health crisis.

I’m guessing that the VP Mike Pence isn’t long for staying in his post in the White House, as he becomes the face of the White House for being a better leader in the handling of this coronavirus outbreak in the USA. The backlash is sure to come.

Here’s the rest of the story…

As per the conservative Washington Examiner’s 3/8/2020  op-ed piece by Philip Klein, “Coronavirus is exposing Trump’s unsuitability to handle a crisis”

Excerpts:

“It’s one thing for Trump to insist he had a “perfect” phone call and have all his Republican minions fall in line. It’s another thing to downplay a growing epidemic as more and more Americans get sick.”

“As of this writing, Johns Hopkins has tracked 428 cases in the U.S.”

“When Trump was elected, many of his critics feared that he could talk the U.S. into a nuclear war. Those fears have not been realized, as Trump has proven generally averse to military conflict, actually more averse than many of his predecessors. He’s also overcome a number of scandals through a combination of relentless attacks on the media and his political enemies, and overreach among his opponents in both camps. But this is something different. Trump will be judged on his handling of the spread of a virus. And the outcome will be clear no matter how many things he makes up, no matter how confident he pretends to be, and no matter how many insults he heaves.”

“If anybody was hoping that Trump had the ability to rise to the moment, his comments  upon touring the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should disabuse them of that notion.”

“Dipping into the greatest hits from his impeachment defense, Trump said of the CDC tests that have run into significant problems, “the tests are all perfect, like the letter was perfect. The transcription was perfect, right? This was not as perfect as that, but pretty good.”

When it came to the matter of testing, Trump also lied, and revealed staggering ignorance. In the face of questions about the disastrously slow rollout of testing in the U.S., Trump insisted, “Anybody that wants a test can get a test. That’s what the bottom line is.”

“Here in Washington, DC, where the first case was announced Saturday (3/7/2020), health officials said they had the capacity to test 50 people a day. There is currently restrictive criteria for who can get tested.”

“South Korea, in contrast, has set up drive through centers, where individuals can get a sample taken in a few minutes without getting out of their cars, and get results back within a few days. This is exactly the sort of outside the box innovative solution that one would think a guy who ran as a practical businessman type would want to encourage or at least look into. Instead, Trump said “they’re not testing. They’re sampling people in other countries.”

“When a reporter interjected that those samples are then being tested, Trump said, “No, no — I heard what he said. They’re sampling people. It’s a drive-by. They give samples. Now, can we do that? Yeah, we can do that, but that’s not effective like what we’re doing.”

“The lack of adequate testing may be keeping the numbers of identified cases artificially low in the U.S., but they are also preventing public health officials from being able to identify areas of outbreak early enough to take steps to mitigate the spread. The more that we can make the spread of the virus more gradual, the easier it will be to make sure that we have enough medical capacity to treat the cases of those who require hospitalization. From what we saw in China, the fatality rate is heavily correlated with how overwhelmed the medical system becomes.”

“But the most stunning part of Trump’s press conference came when he said that, despite the recommendation of health officials, he was reluctant to let Americans off of a cruise ship with 21 infected, because it would increase the reported numbers of cases. He said he would defer to the vice president, and there is now news that the passengers will be let off.”

“Yet it was quite revealing into Trump’s thought process that he said, “I would rather — because I like the numbers being where they are. I don’t need to have the numbers double because of one ship. That wasn’t our fault, and it wasn’t the fault of the people on the ship, either.”

“Trump appears to be more concerned with numbers that might make him look bad in the short-term, then he is with actually taking the most prudent measures to save lives over time.”

“The current crisis is revealing what many critics feared in a potential Trump presidency. He simply hasn’t shown an ability to break out of his typical antics, and treat the moment with the seriousness with which it deserves.”