We’re losing World War III
We’re now seven months into WWIII, only this war is different. For the first time ever, our allies include every other nation in the world fighting against a common enemy — the coronavirus. You would think that with almost 200 countries fighting COVID-19 together that we would be winning this war. You would be wrong. The United States has the most casualties of any nation, by far.
Our country’s history with xenophobia and racism are still alive and well in the United States today. In 1793, Germans were blamed for bringing yellow fever, often called the “German flu,” into our country. Irish were blamed for the 1832 and 1849 cholera outbreaks in New York City. San Francisco public health officials claimed that Chinese immigrants brought numerous dangerous diseases such as smallpox, bubonic plague and leprosy into our country. Tuberculosis was known as a “Jewish disease.” Previously we had Faux News and right-wing radio saying foreigners were carrying diseases to the United States. President Trump can’t go a day without saying “the China flu” or “kung flu.” U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) claimed in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece that the coronavirus was manufactured in a Wuhan, China laboratory.
Which is why it’s so ironic that Americans are now the dangerous, disease-carrying foreigners banned from traveling to 27 countries of the European Union. Today your family can’t travel to Germany, Spain, France or Greece. The joke is Mexico is going to stop
Americans from entering their country illegally. How did we get here? Shouldn’t this have been 200 countries sharing science, math, medicine and technology to fight the coronavirus together? Yes, it should have been. However, you have to look at who’s leading our country today. A president who doesn’t wear a mask. A president who doesn’t believe in science, math and technology and goes off his “gut instinct.” A president who is more concerned with his reelection, the stock market and unemployment numbers. A president who blames everyone but himself for the debacle our country’s in today.
To put things in perspective, this past week the state of Arizona with 7 million people had more coronavirus cases in a single day than the European Union with 446 million people. Still think young people are immune to the coronavirus? Over 50% of Arizona’s confirmed coronavirus cases are people younger than 44 years old. The country of Vietnam with 95 million people has had a total of 370 confirmed coronavirus cases and 0 deaths. This wasn’t in a single day, this was since this pandemic began since January.
What did Vietnam do different than the United States? They’re an Asian country that’s been through pandemics before. They got the whole country behind extreme measures to combat the virus before it spread. Vietnam’s first confirmed case of the coronavirus was from a man who had traveled to Wuhan, China on Jan. 23. Vietnam shut down the border to China. They required health inspections at all other points of entry (harbors and airports). Schools were closed immediately and all people were required to wear masks in public. By midMarch all arriving foreign visitors were sent to a quarantine center for 14 days along with any Vietnamese citizens who had tested positive. Everyone in quarantine was tested regularly, whether they had any symptoms or not. Vietnam had a handful of cases in Son Loi, a city of 10,000 north of Hanoi. They sealed off the area and told all citizens to shelter in place for 14 days. It worked.
Can you imagine President Trump announcing those restrictions on our freedoms back in January? No Super Bowl. Canceling in-person schools and all sports. No Mardi Gras. No church services and especially church choirs. No bars. No beers and burgers. No nightclubs. But more importantly, no deaths in the United States. Considering the Unites States is leading the world in confirmed coronavirus cases and we’re approaching 140,000 deaths — would you have temporarily given up some of your rights and freedoms to not have to have live in a state of quarantine for up to 18 months?
To paraphrase a Twitter rant that I’ve embellished into my own: While we all sheltered in place, social distanced at least six feet, wore our masks everywhere in public and washed our hands 10 times a day, all those Trumploving, non-science-&-math-believing, anti-masks Karens and Kens, open-or-bust protesting, I-want-my-hair-styled and I-need-my-nails-done whiners have turned this pandemic into a never-ending nightmare for all Americans. Thanks, MAGA!