[ad_1]
President Donald Trump speaking in a video posted to Twitter on December 31, 2020.
The White House | Twitter
WASHINGTON – In the dying days of 2020, the United States saw the number of coronavirus deaths soar, cases reached skyrocketing levels, hospitals were strained and the deployment of desperately needed vaccines failed. not met expectations.
December was America’s deadliest month during the pandemic. Yet President Donald Trump has barely said a word about the tragic toll of Covid-19.
Instead, the president spent the month obsessing over baseless allegations of a stolen election, delaying relief legislation before signing it, weighing on cable news broadcasts and lashing out. to members of his own party.
And on Thursday, the last day of the month and year, Trump tweeted a video bragging about his administration’s response to the pandemic.
In December, the country plunged into what would become its toughest battle against Covid-19, even as vaccines began to roll out. The country has reported more than 6.1 million new infections and more than 74,140 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The latest totals make December the deadliest month in the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States, overtaking April, when more than 60,738 Americans lost their lives to the coronavirus.
Since the start of the coronavirus epidemic, at least 342,414 Americans have died from the disease, which Trump has repeatedly promised 40 times to go away.
In a recorded message released Thursday, Trump took the lion’s share of credit for the unprecedented speed in vaccine development calling the feat a “medical miracle.”
“Thanks to Operation Warp Speed, we have developed a vaccine in just nine months, we have already started a nationwide immunization program and we are sending the vaccine all over the world. The world will benefit, we will benefit. , and everyone is calling for thanks, ”said the president.
Trump also took a moment to praise his work on the economy, saying his administration “built the greatest economy in the history of the world.”
“We’re doing numbers now like no one has seen before, including having the highest stock market in world history,” Trump said, adding “the best is yet to come” in his signing.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tweets and golf
Trump, who spent the last week vacationing at his private club in Palm Beach, Fla., Returned to the White House on Thursday as lawmakers debated legislation that would increase Covid relief payments to $ 2,000 in a context of historic unemployment and business closures.
The president himself has pushed for these higher payments, although Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell has resisted a stand-alone vote on the bill providing for higher payments, which passed with bipartisan support in the House.
In Palm Beach, Trump spent several days golfing at his for-profit golf course and sent out 110 tweets that were largely focused on false statements regarding a rigged presidential election and the upcoming Senate run-off in Georgia .
Trump, despite a series of unsuccessful court challenges, has not conceded the election to Democrat Joe Biden, who will be inaugurated on January 20. The president also took to Twitter to garner support for an upcoming rally in Georgia.
President Donald Trump plays golf at Trump National Golf Club November 21, 2020 in Sterling, Virginia.
Tasos Katopodis | Getty Images
The president’s refusal to address other aspects of the ongoing public health disaster comes as the governors of Colorado and California confirm a new, potentially more infectious strain of Covid-19 in their states.
Hospital struggles and vaccines stumble
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said earlier Wednesday that the new strain could increase pressure on hospitals across the country, which are already overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients.
Short-staffed hospitals coast-to-coast are already running out of intensive care units and standard beds available to meet rising patient numbers, according to data released by the Department of Health and Social Services.
Medical staff prepare to perform a percutaneous tracheostomy procedure on a COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU) patient during Thanksgiving at United Memorial Medical Center on November 26, 2020 in Houston, Texas.
Go Nakamura | Getty Images
Earlier this month, the United States began rolling out vaccines to fight the disease. But health officials have warned that a vaccine would not immediately relieve the country of the outbreak.
The country’s health officials have previously said their goal is to vaccinate at least 20 million Americans with their first vaccines by the end of the year. The will be far from this objective.
Read more: Trump blames states as he faces criticism for slow Covid vaccine rollout
More than 11.4 million doses of the two-dose vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna were distributed nationwide as of Monday morning. About 2.1 million of these vaccines have been given to people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Trump, criticized for the missed vaccination target, has been blamed on the disorganized rollout of vaccines across states.
“The federal government has distributed the vaccines to the states,” the president said in a Tweeter. “Now it’s up to the States to manage. Go ahead!”
CNBC’s Kevin Breuninger, Will Feuer and Noah Higgins Dunn contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source link