President Trump doesn't think his tone has changed about the growing coronavirus threat. Speaking at a briefing, Trump said that he recognized the severity of the threat “fairly quickly” when the outbreak started in China. And while reporters have documented otherwise, Trump said he “thought it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.”
In earlier remarks, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Trump was "far too slow in waking up to the scale of the challenges" facing the U.S. On a related note, Mr. Trump says distribution of coronavirus test kits is being stepped-up as much as possible.
Trump called the coronavirus “an invisible enemy.” He called the coronavirus an invisible enemy, adding, “We are getting to know it a lot better." Trump noted that he spoke earlier with restaurant industry CEOs. More than a dozen states have ordered restaurants and bars to close their dining areas. Trump also predicted that economy will "come back very rapidly." He said, "It's going to pop."
Something popping and not in a good way? The relationship between the United States and China. The latest example being China pulling the press credentials of more American journalists. Beijing has announced that staffers with “The New York Times,” “The Wall Street Journal,” and “The Washington Post” must turn in their press cards within ten days. Why? The ever-growing fight over the spread of coronavirus. Last month, China booted three “WSJ” correspondents last month after an opinion column in “The Journal” called China the "real sick man of Asia." Earlier this month, the Trump administration said it was reducing the number of Chinese nationals working at four state-run media outlets in the U.S. from 160 to 100.
Is there treatment on the horizon? Maybe. The biotech company Regeneron says they may have a treatment ready for human trials by the summer. But that’s not all. Scientists are also looking at currently available treatments for other illnesses that might work in this scenario. Among them? Remdesivir. Originally developed by Gilead Sciences as a treatment for Ebola, the broad-spectrum anti-viral medication has already been successful in treating MERs (another coronavirus). It’s already being tested as well.
Where does the United States stand with COVID-19? At last check, there are nearly four-thousand cases across the United States – with 114 patients succumbing to the illness. Globally, the numbers stand at just over 198-thousand people infected by the virus – with just over 79-hundred dead. On the plus side, nearly 82-thousand have recovered (up from the 80-thousand reported yesterday).
Source: White House