Rift between Trump and Coronavirus Experts Complicate Coronavirus Response

WASHINGTON, KOMPAS.com — The growing rift between US President Donald Trump and government coronavirus experts has become increasingly visible as the Covid-19 situation worsens.

Recent developments are a far cry from the early days of the coronavirus crisis where there seemed to be a portrait of unity.

As the novel virus ravaged the globe, President Donald Trump was briefed by a team of public health experts to confront the disease.

Now, the Covid-19 virus has reached all parts of the United States while the death toll rises and uncertainty over when the crisis will end.

Hence, a chasm has widened between the president and the coronavirus experts.

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In a time when coherence is most essential, mixed messages are being delivered to the public on a daily basis as a result of the growing estrangement.

Trump and his political advisers insist that the United States has no rival in its response to the pandemic.

They point to the fact that the US has administered more virus tests than any other nation and that the percentage of deaths among those infected is among the lowest.

“Right now, I think it’s under control,” Trump said during an interview with Axios. He added, “We have done a great job.”

But the surge in infections, hospitalizations and deaths tells a different story.

And it suggests that the president is increasingly out of step with the federal government’s own medical and public health experts.

The US death toll, which now stands at 155,000, is expected to accelerate.

The latest composite forecast from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention projects an average of nearly 1,000 deaths per day through Aug. 22.

Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus task force coordinator, warned this week that the virus has become “extraordinarily widespread."