The Number of People Infected in Trump’s ‘Super-Spreader’ Event Shows Why Events Are Cancelled

By
George Yang
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In case you didn’t know, a president’s schedule is jam-packed.

Actually, anyone who has their own office room in a company would have a jam-packed schedule, but that’s not the point: the point is that the President of the United States meets a lot of people every day, and attends more events in a day than the number of events you attend in a year.

Which is why contact tracing for Trump is going to be a pain in back, given the number of places he’s been to and the people he’s met with.

While most of us would remember the presidential debate held a few days ago, it should be noted that the event wasn’t organised by him, so he’s no control over any COVID-19 rules.

Instead, everyone’s now looking at an event on 26 September 2020: the Supreme Court nomination ceremony at the White House.

The Number of People Infected in Trump’s Event Showed Why Events Are Cancelled

Before news about Trump’s COVID-19 status hogged the headlines, media in the US has been trying to catch up with the numerous things that occurred one month before the election.

Because if you’ve watched any political drama, you’d know this is the period when the skeletons in the closet became alive.

There were Trump’s tax returns; there were groups that came out with ridiculous conspiracy theories (that some people believe); there was the presidential debate.

And then there’s the Supreme Court nomination.

For a Singaporean who doesn’t even know that Lee Hsien Loong, not Lawrence Wong, is our Prime Minister, here’s some basic context: someone in the judicial branch died, and Trump is nominating another justice (a person).

It became a hoo-ha because previously, Obama was barred from nominating another justice during an election year, but now, Trump is allowed to do so because they might need the judicial branch to determine the winner in this year’s election due to its unconventional manner.

A justice will serve forever, and he or she will be nominated by the President. The potential justice would need to be approved by the Senate. To use an example, if the Singapore PM wants to replace a person, he can only nominate that person, and the person needs to be approved by the MPs (a majority will suffice).

Last Saturday, on 26 September 2020, Trump unveiled his nominee in the White House.

And it’s not a Zoom meeting, but a nomination ceremony.

To do that, he held an outdoor ceremony at the Rose Garden, which was attended by about 200 people—many of whom were not wearing masks or following social distancing guidelines.

Here’s the event:

It’s now been speculated that this would’ve been the “super-spreader” event that led to Trump’s infection (or he might be Patient Zero there; who knows).

The reason?

As time passes, more people linked to the event have been confirmed to be infected.

So far, there have been at least seven attendees who’ve been tested positive with the coronavirus. This includes two senators (think of them as MPs).

And as you’d have remembered, the cluster would spread out fast.

One more senator, who didn’t attend the event, was later tested positive. Unlike MPs in Singapore that work “part-time”, senators in the US work closely together, and even shared the same office building.

No Masks But Tests Were Done

Ask Donald Trump any questions about COVID-19 and he’d say, “We’ve done many tests. So many tests.”

It’s therefore no surprise that despite the lack of social distancing measures and masks, the attendees were allegedly all tested before the event took place.

Unlike Singapore whereby Lawrence Wong would appear out of nowhere if you suggest an organising an event, it was reported that the staff didn’t even suggest a scaled-down evetn with fewer people because it would be “rejected out of hand”.

In the event, some people did wear masks, but after the event, they were seen shaking each other’s hands and talking among each other.

And as for the nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett?

Well, she has already caught the coronavirus before so she’s should be safe.

The Next Two Days Will Be The Critical Period For Trump’s Covid-19 Recovery

On Friday afternoon, Trump was taken to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, a U.S. military medical centre where presidents and vice-presidents are routinely treated.

A day later, Trump posted a video on Twitter saying he’s doing well, and that his wife, the First Lady, was fine too.

Trump’s doctor also painted a rosy picture of the president’s condition, saying he was feeling well and had mild symptoms.

However, a source close to the White House said on Saturday (3 Oct) that Trump has received supplemental oxygen since he became ill, CNN reported.

Trump “definitely has had oxygen,” the source said, adding that he was given oxygen on Friday.

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said that the president went through a “very concerning” period on Friday, and that the next 48 hours will be “critical” in terms of his care.

What’s concerning is that Trump’s doctor, Navy Commander Dr. Sean Conley, repeatedly refused to answer questions on whether Trump had received oxygen, and also declined to share more details of his symptoms.

If you can’t trust a doctor for information, who can you trust?

Treatment

According to The New York Times, Trump is experiencing coughing, congestion, and fever,  symptoms which reportedly worsened over the course of Friday.

Fortunately for Trump, doctors have not given him hydroxychloroquine or injected disinfectant, administering drugs that may actually work instead.

Trump was given one intravenous dose of “an experimental antibody cocktail” – Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’s dual antibody.

He has also received the first infusion of a five-day course of remdesivir, an experimental antiviral drug, as well as immune system boosters such as zinc, vitamin D, aspirin, and other generic drugs.

His doctors are basically using all the medical weapons in their arsenal to try and snuff out the coronavirus.

While Trump has reportedly abstained from smoking and drinking his whole life, he is 74-years-old, male, and clinically obese; three factors which increase his risk of developing serious complications.

As Meadows said, the next two days will be critical.

Both former president Barack Obama and presidential nominee Jo Biden have wished Trump and his wife a speedy recovery, despite the political enmity that they have with the 74-year-old.

Read Also: More People in the White House Now Ordered to Wear Masks After Trump Caught the Coronavirus

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George Yang
Email: [email protected]