The Price of reopening the Economy in United States of America

President Donald Trump now has some idea of the cost to benefit ration of reopening United States America where tens of thousands are affected by the outbreak that is getting even worse. He and his administration has downplayed the severity of virus since it entered in the country but now its time to pay the price.

Depressing new fatality rate projections and infection data on Monday squashed the optimism brought by phased lifting of lockdown restrictions as the President aimed to reopen the national economy which is crucial to his reelection hopes while more than 30m people have lost their jobs in the corona crisis. Social distancing recommendations slowed down the cases and flattened the curve of infections in hotbeds like California and New York but couldn’t impeded the broader spread across other states resulting in mammoth spread rate of an average 30,000 new cases per day for almost a month.

As the administration is ready for haunting bargain, the newly predicted numbers through modeling predict a grim feature as Trump remains out of sight and didn’t appear to fire shots on his political opponents in his typical fashion through wild briefings. WH also took new steps to limit President’s Coronavirus task force testimony to the House, a move which promoted Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi to say that Trump “was afraid of the truth.”

Trump who seems unquestionable in his spirits for reopening the America consistently looked to care more about his political prospects during the pandemic months on boasted on Monday about his new victory that his administration was finally getting five star reviews for his virus management.

A new model from the University of Washington, previously suggested that 134,000 Americans could lose their lives by the month of August after the reopening of the businesses. The model which is previously employed by White House shows that the numbers were more than double under the same modeling used last month.

An internal report drafted by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention obtained by the NY Times contradicted the WH stance about the virus which says that the peak is over and it is time to resume the economic activity. According to the data, daily death toll will reach about 3,000 by June 1, nearly doubling the current tally.

The data combined with figures alluded to the fact that worsening of pandemic in various states factually presents no scientific reason to reopen the restaurants, bars, markets and other businesses. It also underlined that how governors are resorting to blind decision making in a bid to reopen the economy while there is no sufficient testing and tracing operation supported by the federal administration.

President’s top aide on Coronavirus task force, Dr. Anthony Fauci who is a renowned expert on infectious diseases, said he didn’t know the scientific case behind the newly presented models but maintained that the predicted numbers were perhaps not misleading that lifting restrictions would lead to surge in new cases.

“It’s the balance of something that’s a very difficult choice,” Fauci said on CNN’s “Cuomo Prime Time,” putting the bargain in the form of a question the American people must resolve.

“How many deaths and how much suffering are you willing to accept to get back to what you want to be, some form of normality, sooner rather than later?” he asked.

“I feel I have a moral obligation to give the kind of information that I’m giving. People are going to make their own choices.”

However, almost 70,000 American people who have already lost their lives in battling the corona are not the only victims of the disease as 30mn Americans are now out of their jobs due to the painful lockdowns and their plight is above any scientific dictation that calls for extension of the lockdown. There is no question about the situation faced by the administration as well as states and their local leaders after weeks of economic block but Mr. President has refused to initiate a national dialogue about the challenging path ahead.

The callous numbers outlined in Monday’s data coupled with the fact that there is no vaccine in sight in the near future leaves nation in a trickier path as whether to feel the economic brunt or the constant blight in the face of COVID-19 which the country has already endured more than any other nation in the world.

Former Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie talked about such a choice:

“Of course, everybody wants to save every life they can — but the question is, towards what end, ultimately?” Christie told CNN’s Dana Bash on The Daily DC Podcast.

“We’ve got to let some of these folks get back to work, because if we don’t, we’re going to destroy the American way of life in these families — and it will be years and years before we can recover.”

Trump, however has decided to take another path as the reelection nears. The incumbent leader of the country is willing to use a path that is most conducive to his political prospects. He escalated attacks on Chinese government for intentionally covering up the intensity of virus and understating numbers which he was very sure – and also assured American public – would never hurt great American nation despite having enormous evidence on his table. He conveniently enough, as always, charged intelligence agencies and his own subordinates for not enlightening him about the deadly disease until late January. Even if his claims are legit – which the evidence suggest are not – there was more than enough coverage of the pandemic in both America and globally for those who believed.

Present in a Fox News town hall on Sunday, Trump who has consistently expressed that he sees “light at the end of the tunnel,” admonished some local leader for not reopening their states quickly enough and disfigured the national picture of COVID-19.

“There’s not too many states that I know of that are going up. Almost everybody is headed in the right direction,” the President said, adding, “I like the states opening. They will be opening. They’re going to open safely and quickly.”

Last week, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner asserted that the “data’s on our side and President Trump has created a pathway to safely reopen our country.”

But the fresh data on Monday suggested the price of reopening would be much higher than some are expecting and opposed the administration’s claim that except unfortunate sites the rest of the country is safe now.