Trump downplayed the threat from COVID-19. Here’s how we could’ve fought back harder.

Friday, September 11, 2020 - 10:30 in Health & Medicine

There were many actions the White House could have used to keep infection rates down and save lives, experts say, even in the absence of a vaccine or effective treatment. (Pexels/)President Trump knew that the novel coronavirus was extremely dangerous as early as late January and misled the American public about the threat, The Washington Post reported this week.In taped interviews with journalist Bob Woodward for his forthcoming book, Trump acknowledged that “this is deadly stuff” and remarked that “it’s also more deadly than even your strenuous flus.” President Trump was briefed on the specifics of the novel virus on January 28 and Woodward interviewed him on February 7. At the same time, the Post noted, Trump was telling Americans that the virus wasn’t worse than the seasonal flu and would disappear. In a March 19 interview, Trump told Woodward that he “wanted to always play it down,” and said...

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