The coronavirus is now the American virus

The United States now has the highest number of coronavirus infections of any nation on the planet, The New York Times reports. Johns Hopkins’ tracker agrees. We now know for sure that our country’s response to the pandemic is a spectacular failure that has been exacerbated by an incompetent president who spent years sabotaging the government’s ability to respond to the current crisis.

The World Health Organization may soon declare that the US is the new epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. This outcome was never predetermined; even a Texas-based grocery chain outsmarted the US government with its own preparations for the disaster by following the obvious warning signs.

As of March 26th, more than 1,000 people have died in the US, and the spread of the virus continues to accelerate across the country.

Governors faced with mounting infections and deaths are begging for help, especially in New York, where cases are expected to overwhelm hospitals within days. Meanwhile, President Trump has suggested the country ought to get back to work by Easter, the governor of Mississippi is overturning social restrictions by local officials, and the lieutenant governor of Texas suggests our grandparents ought to die to restart the economy. America has failed to mount a coordinated and decisive response to save itself.

We don’t need to know how bad it’s going to get to see America’s unique failure to act. Future generations can look to the history we’ve already made as a warning about what not to do when faced with an outbreak.

President Trump once said that when he was elected we would win so much that we’d be sick of winning. As America leads the world in infections, we’re not sick of winning — we’re sick from it.