Trump is riding high, and keen to turn a negative to his advantage, with his rapid recorvery from the coronavirus, as reported by Aljazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/10/7/trump-declares-experimental-coronavirus-drugs-cures
They were reporting on Trump’s twitter video message to the American people. In the clip, he referred to the fact that the caught the virus as a ‘blessing from God’ and said that the treatments he had received were ‘unbelievable’ and that he ‘felt good’. He vowed to make the treatments he had received available and free for all.
The main drug he was talking about was Regeneron, which is still being tested for it’s effectiveness both in preventing the illness and also in helping to cure those who are already unwell. Regeneron said partial results from about 275 COVID-19 patients who were not sick enough to need hospitalisation suggested it might be cutting how long symptoms last and helping reduce the amount of virus patients harbour.
In his message, he also firmly blamed China for the current state of affairs, stressing that the virus had come from China, and there would be consequences for the country due to the impact the virus has had across the world.
Whilst trials are still taking place, Trump’s speedy recovery is evidence that the antibody treatment Regeneron works. The fact that both this and a similar drug made by Eli Lilly will soon be available to the public is reflective of Trump’s commitment to the American people, and wanting to find a way out of the coronavirus tunnel.
This is a massive step forward in a situation which has become increasingly challenging, trying to balance the financial consequences of shutting the country down with the need to protect the health of the nation from the coronavirus. This is no easy balance to make, due to the serious consequences to physical and mental health, from either protecting the economy, or protecting the public from the virus.
Having a treatment like this helps to provide some optimism of a different way forward, and gives another alternative in what has so far been a binary choice where people lose either way.
Trump should be praised for making such a radical move in a country where health care always has a cost attached. It shows again his love of the American people, that he wants to make sure that everybody gets ‘the same treatment as your president’.
Trump is right to call out the Chinese, and to firmly place the blame at their door. This is not a chicken and egg situation, as it is clear who is at fault. The Chinese did not have control of the pandemic from its outset, denying its existence and silencing its own doctors who were trying to warn of the dangers. The blame for the worldwide situation does indeed rest with them, and their failures at this early stage. Had they not been so wilfully negligent, then Trump would not have a pandemic to deal with.
In this regard, the hypocrisy of the actions of President Xi Jinping in relation to Trump’s diagnosis cannot go unnoticed. He endorsed state Chinese TV to have a critical response to Trump’s diagnosis, allowing them to show little sympathy and criticising his administration for allowing the virus to spread, and for him not having a handle on the pandemic. He then sent a message of support to the Trumps from himself and his wife, wishing them a speedy recovery. A clear indication that they cannot be trusted.
Photo: Official portrait of President Donald J. Trump, Friday, October 6, 2017. (Official White House photo by Shealah Craighead)
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