Coronavirus: How the U.S. Is Preparing for a Covid-19 Outbreak

President Donald Trump insists his administration is ready for a coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., yet reports of new cases in several states over the weekend will test his effort to project control over the spreading infection. #Coronavirus #CoronavirusOutbreak #Covid19

With global markets sliding on concerns the virus could touch off a worldwide recession, Trump now faces the most serious challenge of his crisis-management skills — one that could imperil his bid for a second term. So far, he has painted any criticism of his handling of coronavirus as an attempt to undermine his presidency.

“Now the Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus,” Trump said Friday night at a rally in South Carolina, just hours before the first U.S. death from the virus. “This is their new hoax, but you know, we did something that’s been pretty amazing.”

Yet medical experts and lawmakers from both parties are increasingly concerned that the U.S. government is far from ready for the virus to spread broadly among the American public. They’re sounding the alarm that a surge in U.S. cases would quickly overwhelm hospitals, amplify supply shortages, and disrupt the world’s largest economy. On Sunday, New York City reported an infected patient in Manhattan.

Trump met with pharmaceutical company leaders on Monday.

“Maybe a cure is possible,” he told reporters at a meeting with Colombian President Ivan Duque. “They’re moving along very quickly.”

But the U.S. isn’t presently prepared for an outbreak, said Peter Hotez, professor and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. “That’s the bad news,” he said.

“But the good news is

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