President Trump continues to ignore the skyrocketing number of coronavirus infections and deaths taking place in all four corners of the United States. The U.S. economy is in great peril if no actions are taken to head off the steep climb. 

The New York Times has been steadily tracking the pandemic in the United States and reports this morning that the 14 average of coronavirus infections has reached 159,000, while deaths have reached 1,200 a day. Many experts, including Dr. Fauci, are warning that we will see 200,000 infections a day and another horrific spike of over 2,000 deaths a day.

President Trump is entirely focused on the favorable test results from Pfizer that indicate their vaccine in early results, maybe 90% or more effective in preventing the potentially deadly disease. During a press conference on Friday, he again refused to recommend social distancing and wear masks. As a result, tens of millions of his supporters refuse to take those needed precautions to protect themselves and others they encounter from the virus.

One of the newly appointed health experts to President-Elect Joe Biden’s coronavirus task force, Dr. Michael Osterholm, said today on the NBC program “Meet the Press” the country is “in a very dangerous period,” and described it as the most dangerous public health crisis since the 1918 influenza pandemic, which lead to the deaths of an estimated 50 million worldwide, including some 675,000 Americans…

 “My worst fear is we will see what we saw happening in other countries, where people were dying on the streets.”

Then he pointed out that the “The health care system is breaking, literally breaking” in many areas of the country.

Meanwhile, Admiral Brett Giroir, the current Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services, admitted on the ABC program “This Week” that “limiting bars and restaurants” would be crucial to limiting the virus’s spread. Yet, throughout the country, President Trump supporters are enraged at the prospect of any local, state or nationwide shutdown.

                     We’re Not Going To Get Better Economically

Martha Raddatz, the host of ABC’s This Week, interviewed three Trump voters in Ohio who refuse to acknowledge that masks and social distancing are an effective strategy against the coronavirus. One woman interviewed scoffed at the idea of shutting the country down over a disease that 97.5% of the population is contracting without killing them. Raddatz didn’t point out that a fatality rate of only 3.5% could mean that if 300,000 million Americans are infected, the number of deaths will amount to more than 8.5 million dead. That would mean this pandemic could end up killing more than 12 times the number of Americans than died from the 1918 influenza pandemic.

President-Elect Biden and members of his campaign and his newly appointed coronavirus task force recognizing the tremendous fear and economic insecurity a nationwide shutdown generates even as a hypothetical is denying that the incoming President is considering a national lockdown. However, the fact remains that at the rate of growth of infections and deaths taking place, our nation’s healthcare system is on its way to be overwhelmed. A national lockdown may be needed to prevent millions of lives thanks to President Trump’s adopting of Dr. Scott Atlas’ herd immunity strategy. If left in place, a strategy will lead to 12 million more infections and over 500,000 total deaths by January 20, 2021, inauguration of Biden as the 46^th President of the United States.

Wall Street appears to be celebrating Biden’s election and has not digested the reality that Biden may have to issue an executive order to lock down the country. Wall Street is also ignoring the fact that the Republican Senate is refusing to take steps to deal with a large portion of the American electorate’s economic suffering and remains all in on a rescue from one or more vaccines to save the country from the economic collapse that is approaching.

If successfully, the Pfizer vaccine will require the vaccine to be stored at 65 degrees below zero, which will likely impose a more extended rollout out than April 2021, being pointed to as the possible start date of distribution by Dr. Fauci.

                           U.S. breaks another coronavirus record