On Friday morning, President Donald Trump criticized his predecessor former President Barack Obama for refusing to fix issues at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and allegedly making “changes” that only “complicated” the problems. The president told the public that his administration, however, has cut through the “red tape” and are now “ready to go.”
“For decades the [CDC] looked at, and studied, its testing system, but did nothing about it,” President Trump posted to social media. “It would always be inadequate and slow for a large scale pandemic, but a pandemic would never happen, they hoped.”
“President Obama made changes that only complicated things further,” the president said.
In a follow-up tweet, Trump said that the Obama administration’s “response to H1N1 Swine flu was a full scale disaster, with thousands dying, and nothing meaningful done to fix the testing problem, until now.”
“The changes have been made and testing will soon happen on a very large scale basis. All Red Tape has been cut, ready to go!” he assured the public.
…. Their response to H1N1 Swine Flu was a full scale disaster, with thousands dying, and nothing meaningful done to fix the testing problem, until now. The changes have been made and testing will soon happen on a very large scale basis. All Red Tape has been cut, ready to go!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2020
According to information from the CDC, compiled at Becker’s Hospital Review, H1N1, or swine flu, “caused 60.8 million illnesses, 273,304 hospitalizations and 12,469 deaths in the U.S.” between April 12, 2009 and April 10, 2010.
“On Oct. 5, 2009, the U.S. began administering a newly approved H1N1 vaccine to select Americans, with vaccination coverage expanding nationwide by that December,” the outlet noted, adding that an estimated 151,700 to 575,400 people died globally from swine flu in the first year of the pandemic.
COVID-19 “has sickened 1,323 Americans and killed 38, as of March 12,” CDC data shows, Becker’s Hospital Review said. “More than 127,00 cases and 4,700 deaths have been reported globally.”
As concerns continued to grow over the virus, Trump addressed the nation on Wednesday night, assuring the public that the crisis is being taken seriously and appropriate actions are being taken, most significantly a 30-day travel ban from Europe to the States.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the travel ban “suspends the entry of most foreign nationals who have been in certain European countries at any point during the 14 days prior to their scheduled arrival to the United States” and excludes “legal permanent residents, (generally) immediate family members of U.S. citizens, and other individuals who are identified in the proclamation.”
Moreover, as stressed by The New York Post on Thursday, “Trump was right in January to stop most Chinese nationals from entering the US, a fact that many of his critics still can’t accept.”
The administration was also able to get major insurance companies to agree to waive copays on coronavirus testing.
Later on Friday morning, the president promoted a payroll tax cut intended to provide economic relief amid the outbreak.
“If you want to get money into the hands of people quickly & efficiently, let them have the full money that they earned, APPROVE A PAYROLL TAX CUT until the end of the year, December 31,” Trump wrote. “Then you are doing something that is really meaningful. Only that will make a big difference!”
If you want to get money into the hands of people quickly & efficiently, let them have the full money that they earned, APPROVE A PAYROLL TAX CUT until the end of the year, December 31. Then you are doing something that is really meaningful. Only that will make a big difference!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2020
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