Newsom cautions downplaying virus
As President D onald Tr ump dow nplays the health effects of COVID-19 and tells the nation not to be afraid of the fatal disease, Gov. Gavin Newsom is countering with a stern message of caution to Californians.
“To minimize, to negate, to dismiss this pandemic as any thing but what it is — a deadly pandemic, a deadly disea se that ’ s impacting lives and destroying families as well as our economy — I don’t think that advances the collective cause or brings this country back together,” Newsom said during a press briefing Monday.
President Trump, who announced less than four days ago that he and the first lady had tested positive for COVID-19, said in a tweet Monday that he was preparing to leave Walter Reed Medical Center, the military hospital where he has spent three nights receiving care.
“Feeling really good! Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life. … I feel better than I did 20 years ago!” Trump wrote in the tweet.
Bob Wachter, chair of the University of California- San Francisco Department of Medicine, quickly took to Twitter to slam the president’s claims about the fatal disease that has now killed more than 210,000 Americans and more than 1 million people across the globe.
“This either shows a breathtakingly callous, inhumane & counterproductive attitude, or he has altered mental status — in which case the 25th Amendment should be invoked,” Wachter wrote in a tweet.
The president’s comments come less than 24 hours after he briefly ventured out of the hospital by motorcade Sunday — disregarding isolation protocols meant to curb the sprea d of the virus — to wave at supporters lined up on the streets outside.
W hen a sked about T r ump’s dow nplay in g the disease, Newsom said “it’s a political season, so it doesn’t surprise me or anyone.”
W hi l e C a l i f o r n i a’s transmission rate is holding steady at 2.6% — the lowest rate since April — the spread of the disease in at least 21 other states and in countries across the world are beginning to pick up again. Newsom called the trend “a sober reminder” of the work California has in front of us.
Hospitalizations and ICU admissions have decreased by 13% and 15% respectively over the past two weeks, but health officials are beginning to see those statistics plateau“As we open up more sectors of our economy, as we open up our schools here in the state of California, invariably we have to step up our efforts and vigilance in terms of the actions we individually take and collectively take to mitigate the spread of this disease,” Newsom said.
“… It will be the individual actions, the sum total of which will determine our fate and future and how quickly we can modify and reopen our economy until we have an immunization.”