To date, the global cumulative number of confirmed cases has exceeded 5.7 million, more than 350,000 deaths, the United States cumulative number of new crown confirmed cases has exceeded 1.7 million, more than 100,000 deaths.
U.S. illness and death rates are alarming
Recently, Zhong Nanshan, head of the high-level expert group of the National Healthcare Commission and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, recently said in an interview with Hong Kong's South China Morning Post , that he was "shocked" by the U.S. data on the number of illnesses and deaths in the new crown outbreak." Trump had said that less than 100,000 deaths would be a victory; now it seems hard to tell. " he said, "You can say that the U.S. has extensive testing for viral nucleic acids, or that the number of tests is higher than in other countries, but I'm shocked at the number of deaths they have." Zhong Nanshan said that the U.S. case-fatality rate for this new crown outbreak is nearly 6 percent, which is incredible because the overall level of medical care in the U.S. is "very strong" . Citing a number of U.S. counterparts, Zhong said that the U.S. healthcare system is incapable of responding to the outbreak, despite the high level of medical care, equipment and facilities in the United States." Whether it is medical equipment as well as medical staff, are not prepared, so all of a sudden suddenly appear so much, very passive, as we Wuhan at the beginning."
A far cry from the performance of SARS
The U.S. response to the epidemic is in stark contrast to the SARS outbreak 17 years ago, and the gap is huge. Zhong Nanshan said that in 2003, "SARS" outbreak he had contacted the U.S. experts, told them to be vigilant, the U.S. side of the epidemic at that time in a "high degree of vigilance" state, " and due to the strong preventive measures taken, the U.S. at that time, there were only 27 cases, which is a world of difference with the present situation. "
He analyzed that the U.S. response to the September 11 attacks was also related to the fact that the U.S. strengthened its public health and emergency response systems after 2001. " As far as I can tell, the U.S. investment in the CDC increased 10-fold in the wake of September 11th. "
Two fatal reasons for the severity of the U.S. epidemic
For why the U.S. fight against the epidemic is so ineffective, Zhong Nanshan also pointed out 2 fatal reasons! One is that the US authorities did not listen to the advice of medical experts and defined the new crown as a major flu early on.
And the other fatal reason is that there was no balance between economic stabilization and epidemic prevention and control! Government officials also failed to listen to medical experts when it came to restarting economic activities, " There is a risk in resuming work and production too quickly . I think they should follow scientific laws and open up gradually." Zhong Nanshan said, "The economy is crucial for any country, but the failure to balance epidemic prevention and control and economic stability is also the reason why the new coronavirus has had such an impact on the United States."
On the timing of the resumption of work and production in the United States, U.S. epidemiologist and member of the White House New Crown Epidemic Response Working Group Faulch has repeatedly suggested that the economy can't recover unless the virus is under control; and that anti-epidemic efforts would be a lost cause if they are rushed. But Trump insisted that states should restart economic activity as soon as possible.
And so, as states restarted their economies one after another and relaxed their epidemic prevention and control measures, people flooded the streets. According to a Reuters statistical analysis of new confirmed cases in the United States last week, 20 states in the United States have seen a rebound in the number of new confirmed cases compared to previous weeks.
Meanwhile, Zhong Nanshan believes that the " politicization of the new coronavirus" has made it difficult for global scientists to work together *** to overcome the difficulties of the time, "We need to understand more about the new coronavirus, and at this time it is crucial for global scientists to work together in the same boat *** to carry out research, but this is now becoming difficult because some politicians 'politicize' the virus! " In addition, Nanshan Zhong is not surprised that the United States is now rampant with conspiracy theories about the new coronavirus involving China, he recalled a magazine he saw while on a business trip to Seattle in 2003, which had "SARS: China's Weapons of Mass Destruction" written on the cover , "(so) I don't think it's that surprising, this kind of theory has always been there, but now it's just being repeated."