What I Heard About Covid-19

In late January of 2020, during my sophomore year of high school, I heard Donald Trump, then President of the United States, say about the coronavirus: ‘We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China. It’s going to be just fine.’

Two days later, I heard him thank President Xi on the behalf of the American people for China’s ‘efforts and transparency’ in containing the virus.

That same month, I heard President Trump’s Trade Advisor, Peter Navarro, had written in a memo: ‘The lack of immune protection or an existing cure or vaccine would leave Americans defenseless in the case of a full-blown coronavirus outbreak on US soil.’

In early February 2020, I heard the president affirm: ‘We pretty much shut it down coming in from China’, and ‘Looks like by April, you know in theory when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away.’

Nearly a month after the first cases of coronavirus were reported in the US, I heard the president say: ‘I think that’s a problem that’s going to go away…They have studied it. They know very much. In fact, we’re very close to a vaccine.’

The next day, at a news conference at the White House, I heard him say: ‘I think every aspect of our society should be prepared. I don’t think it’s going to come to that, especially with the fact that we’re going down, not up. We’re going very substantially down, not up’, and ‘We have it so well under control. I mean, we really have done a very good job.’

I heard the president repeat that the virus would simply vanish. That ‘one day, it’s like a miracle, it will disappear.’

In March 2020, I heard the president say: ‘Anybody right now, and yesterday, anybody that needs a test gets a test. They’re there. And the tests are beautiful.’

On 23 March 2020, I heard my school would be closed indefinitely.

I heard the president say: ‘We inherited a broken test. The whole thing was broken and we rebuilt it.’

In April, watching the news from my mom’s work laptop in the kitchen, I heard the president address states’ pleas for medical supplies: ‘The complainers should have been stocked up and ready long before this crisis hit.’

I heard Laura Ingraham, host of The Ingraham Angle on Fox News, compare coronavirus treatment to HIV treatment and question why the virus would not just disappear.

I heard Dr. Fauci respond: ‘The degree of efficiency of transmissibility of this is really unprecedented in anything that I’ve seen […] those kinds of viruses don’t just disappear.’

I heard the president suggest a cure for the virus that entailed hitting the body with a ‘tremendous—whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light.’

I heard the president also suggest: ‘I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning? As you see, it gets in the lungs, it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.’

Four days later, after an influx of poison control calls nationwide, I heard the president say: ‘I can’t imagine why.’

In May, I heard the president allude once again to a vaccine: ‘I think we’re doing very well on the vaccines.’ That same day, I also heard him say: ‘The virus will pass, with or without a vaccine.’

I heard Tucker Carlson say on Fox News: ‘Many other politicians […] loved this pandemic—this tragedy—every sad minute of it. It made them feel indispensable, omnipotent, like gods. They desperately don’t want it to end.’

I heard the president say: ‘This is going to go away without a vaccine. We are not going to see it again.’

I heard the president promote an anti-malaria drug to prevent coronavirus infection: ‘I’m taking it, hydroxychloroquine. Right now, yeah. Couple of weeks ago, I started taking it. Cause I think it’s good, I’ve heard a lot of good stories.’

I might even have Googled ‘hydroxychloroquine’.

While studying in lockdown for my AP Human Geography exam, I heard the president praise his administration’s coronavirus response: ‘We have met the moment and we have prevailed.’

I heard the president describe the surplus of cases as ‘a badge of honor,’ because it meant ‘our testing is much better.’

On 29 May 2020, I heard the United States would be terminating its relationship with the World Health Organization.

In June, I heard Dr. Stephen Hahn, then Commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), say: ‘There’s been a proliferation of information and misinformation on the internet and in other sources. Consumers need to understand that this virus is still with us, and that we as individuals and communities working together need to take the steps to continue to contain its spread.’

I heard the FDA had revoked its approval for hydroxychloroquine, because the treatment was ‘unlikely to be effective.’

I heard Peter Lurie, former FDA Associate Commissioner for Public Health Strategy and Analysis, comment that the president was prepared to ‘put political expediency ahead of scientific expertise.’

I heard the president state that ‘testing is a double-edged sword,’ and that he had told his team to ‘slow the testing down, please.’

I heard the president refer to Covid-19 as the ‘China Virus.’

I heard the US had 25% of global coronavirus cases, despite making up only 4% of the global population.

In July, I read a tweet from the president, raising concerns about sabotage in the 2020 Election: ‘The Dems think it would be bad for them politically if U.S. schools open before the November election, but it is important for the children & families.’

I heard the Surgeon General change his opinion on the efficacy of masks and remark, ‘When we learn better, we do better.’

I heard Ted Cruz, a US Senator for Texas, say: ‘If it ends up that Biden wins in November…I guarantee you, the week after the election suddenly all those Democratic governors, all those Democratic mayors, will say, “Everything is magically better. Go back to work, go back to school.” Suddenly, the problems are solved.’

I heard the president had tweeted: ‘We have more cases because we have tested far more than any other country, 60,000,000. If we tested less, there would be less cases.’

On 12 August 2020, the day I received the schedule for my virtual Junior year, I heard the US report the highest number of COVID-19 fatalities in a single day since mid-May.

I heard the president reiterate his claims about the election, asserting that the FDA was ‘hoping to delay the answer [about a vaccine] until after November 3rd.’

I heard when asked how concerned he was about coronavirus at his political rallies, the president told a reporter: ‘I’m on a stage, it’s very far away, so I’m not at all concerned.’

I heard then CDC Director, Robert Redfield, announce that for the vaccine to be ‘fully available to the American public…we are probably looking at late second quarter, third quarter 2021.’

I heard the president respond: ‘I think [Redfield] made a mistake when he said that. . . . We’re ready to distribute immediately to a vast section of the country.’

In late September, as I sat at a makeshift school desk in my room doing calculus homework, I heard the president remark: ‘Take your hat off to the young, because they have a hell of an immune system. But it affects virtually nobody.’

I heard the president announce: ‘By the way, open your schools everybody, open your schools.’

I heard the president contradict the CDC, saying: ‘vaccines are coming, and they’re coming fast.’

On 29 September 2020, I heard the president assert: ‘so far we have had no problem whatsoever,’ referring to the number of coronavirus cases at his election rallies.

On 30 December 2020, I heard only about two million people had been vaccinated—18 million less than the Trump administration had planned on by that date.

In January, after President Biden was sworn in, I heard Trump’s term in office had coincided with more than 25 million confirmed coronavirus cases, over 400,000 of which resulted in fatalities.

In March 2021, when asked about how effective a vaccination campaign led by former President Trump would be, I heard Dr. Fauci say: ‘Chris, I think it would make all the difference in the world […] I’m very surprised at the high percentage of Republicans who say they don’t want to get vaccinated. I don’t understand where that’s coming from. This is not a political issue. This is a public health issue.’

On 7 April 2021, I heard 16 year olds like myself were now eligible to get a vaccine.

In May 2021 I heard the CDC say vaccinated people no longer needed to wear masks indoors: ‘Anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or physical distancing.’

On 13 May 2021, I heard President Biden declare ‘victory over the virus’: ‘If you’re fully vaccinated and can take your mask off, you’ve earned the right to do something that Americans are known for all around the world: greeting others with a smile — with a smile.’