zlacker

There is a reason, the U.S. has traditionally had a U.S. WHO representative in China since the first SARS outbreak, well until TRUMP. Trump's removal of the U.S. presence "on-the-ground" made it easy for the Chinese gov't to delay the real-time reporting while they struggled to figure out on their own whether they had something really serious to worry about or not. Covid-19 is not ENTIRELY Trump's fault, but he sure did just about everything he could to make it worse.

>>hcknws+(OP)
I wasn't aware of that. Can you let me know who was the earlier representative and their term period ?

I fully agree that Trump could have handled the virus better. Unfortunately, ALL media attention was focused on his impeachment at the time and he was derided as a racist and tyrant for banning China travel.

He should had the courage to ban all international travel immediately when the virus got to the EU and begun to initiate national readiness. Some nations did this and suffered far less as a result. Sadly, he - like so many national leaders - took the virus seriously far too late.

>>hcknws+(OP)
"Covid-19 is not ENTIRELY Trump's fault" - in what way is it his fault at all? Also, the timeline of events you are sighting is intentionally misleading.

>>AzzieE+V2
He encouraged people not to wear masks as a lifestyle choice and cultural signalling thing. Some % of transmission rate is directly attributable to him -- he could have said wearing a mask owns the libs and massively helped instead of hurting.

>>refene+53
Dr Fauci told people masks where ineffective early on in the pandemic, allegedly for the "altruistic" motive of ensuring "front line" workers don't have issues getting hold of masks. Do you attribute a percent of transmission to him?

The final verdict on the efficacy of masks against this virus is still TBD once we have more information and the passage of time removes the political agenda's that cloud this conversation. Your "own the libs" certainly doesn't help either.

>>refene+53
Do you feel the same way about Nancy Pelosi telling people to “come to Chinatown” during the start of the pandemic?

>>refene+53
We were supposed to have N95’s available from day 1, but that funding was canceled a decade ago.

>>nervlo+b8
It's creepy how some people keep trying to memory hole what our own health officials said about masks in the early days. I wonder whether they really think this kind of thing flies under the radar or they are so embarrassed they parroted the 'masks are worse than useless' line that they genuinely forgot about that part of the story themselves.

Though IMHO, given the role vitamin D deficiency seems to have on mortality rates, I think the harshest criticism (charges?) should be reserved for any mayor who ordered tanning beds to close in his or her city.