US owes world an explanation

Deadly errors drag globe into longer pandemic war

The Trump administration owes the world an explanation regarding its response to the COVID-19 pandemic and should be held responsible for many of its missteps. This includes its slow response, inefficient testing, not being able to offer a clear timeline on COVID-19, spreading rumors about the virus’ origin and muzzling scientists that have led to surging cases which now account for a third of known cases worldwide in the worst global crisis since World War II, analysts said.

With more suspected cases discovered, suggesting that the virus might have existed in the US as early as November or December 2019, the US government is obligated to offer clear responses to some crucial questions over the outbreak, as it’s not only relevant to Americans, but also to the global fight against the deadly disease, some analysts say, noting that the time has arrived to launch a thorough investigation led by the World Health Organization (WHO) into such matters.

With more than a million COVID-19 cases in the US, Washington is widely believed to have failed its own people and the world as the

country has about 4 percent of the global population, but now accounts for one-third of all cases worldwide and nearly 30 percent of the overall death toll.

While some critics claim that the White House’s serious missteps throughout the COVID-19 outbreak have cost innocent American lives and left millions unemployed, some suggest that US President Donald Trump’s handling of the crisis could be the worst mistake of his term. Experts in both China and the US came up with a series of insights on how the US government missed the window of opportunity from January to March to contain the virus, wasting energy on politicizing the virus while engaging in blame games against China, constantly playing down the impact of the disease and taking irresponsible actions.

Probe necessary

Commentators, analysts and medical experts voiced strong opposition toward Trump’s handling of the crisis, especially when an internal Trump administration memo forecasted 200,000 daily cases by June, according to media reports, while a sharp rise in deaths would also be in sight as the daily death toll is expected to reach about 3,000 on June 1 as more states lift restrictions.

Trump advised in an interview on Tuesday that the American people should begin returning to normality even if it leads to more confirmed cases and deaths from coronavirus. Some critics meanwhile slammed such a decision as the US president has seemingly given up on the viral fight and abandoned public health strategy, which is “a clear willingness to trade lives for the Dow Jones,” some critics were quoted as saying in media reports.

Besides massive failures in strategic judgment, and deadly errors in its pandemic response and preparation, the US government is also urged to respond to swarms of unanswered questions about how the pandemic has unfolded in the country, especially when latest reports suggest the virus might have been circulating in the US before health authorities officially announced the first confirmed case that may potentially lead to a revision of the pandemic timeline and the US response.

The US’ anti-pandemic measures have undoubtedly failed, noted Yuan Zheng, director and senior fellow of the Division of American Diplomacy Studies, Institute of American Studies and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Many questions possibly related to the origin of COVID-19 have been raised by netizens toward the US government, including the shutdown of a military biological lab in Frederick, Maryland; the flu outbreak in late 2019; and the large number of deaths in September 2019 that showed similar respiratory symptoms to COVID-19 victims, but the US government has not yet responded to these concerns, Yuan told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Deadly errors

The US CDC analyzed in a recent report about how the pandemic accelerated over the past three months in the US and indicated that by midMarch, transmission had become widespread and the acceleration of dissemination in March included continued importation of the virus by travelers, social events and gatherings, lack of testing, influenza and pneumonia hospitalizations and so on.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported the first confirmed case on January 21 and the White House established a task force on January 27, but the test kits developed by the CDC turned out to be faulty in early February while other countries have taken aggressive measures to contain the spread of the disease.

The second phase – nearly throughout February – is also considered as a lost month as it was critical to take control of transmission, but only until late February, US authorities such as the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration demonstrated a clear shift in a sense of urgency, according to a report by Brookings in March.

Meanwhile, Trump did not impose a travel ban on travelers from Europe until mid-March. An analysis article published on Sunday said the European travel ban to the US came at least five weeks too late.

Other missteps of the Trump administration include ignoring early warnings on the disease, spreading lies about the origin of the virus and misleading domestic and international audiences while politicizing an issue that should be handled by scientists, analysts said.

Enough is enough, Chinese analysts said while commenting on such a political farce staged by US politicians. And being the world’s foremost superpower, it should be held responsible for the global pandemic response as the government has failed to keep the situation under control, hurt international cooperation and misled the public, dragging the world into a longer-than-expected war against the pandemic, analysts said.