The Manual on Viruses

22 January (CNBC interview - the day before the first case
of corona in the USA was reported): “We have it totally under
control. It’s one person coming in from China. We have it under
control. It’s going to be just fine.”
30 January (in Michigan - On this day, the WHO declares
the spread of the virus to be a “health emergency of international
concern”): “We think we have it very well under control.
We have very little problem in this country at this moment
— five — and those people are all recuperating successfully.
But we’re working very closely with China and other countries,
and we think it’s going to have a very good ending for us …
that I can assure you.”
February 10: “You know in April, supposedly, it dies with
the hotter weather.” He told state governors: “You know, a
lot of people think that goes away in April with the heat -- as
the heat comes in. Typically, that will go away in April.” And
he said at a campaign rally: “Looks like by April, you know, in
theory, when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away.
I hope that’s true.”
February 25: “ The coronavirus wich is very well under control
in our country. We have very few people with it. The people are
getting better, they’re all getting better. And I think that whole
situation will start working out. Lot of talent, a lot of brain power
is being put behind it. It´s a very good chance you‘re not gonna
die.” There were 53 confirmed cases and no deaths on the
day of Trump’s tweet; as of March 11, there were more than
1,000 cases and 31 deaths.
February 26: Trump baselessly predicts: “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 he
said: “And again, when you have 15 people, and the 15 within
a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that’s a
pretty good job we’ve done.” Clearly, the number of US cases
and deaths was going up, not down. There were 60 total
cases in the US on the day Trump spoke here.
February 26: “This is a flu. This is like a flu,” Trump repeated.
“It’s a little like the regular flu that we have flu shots for. And
we’ll essentially have a flu shot for this in a fairly quick manner.”
March 6 (visiting Atlanta): “I like this stuff. I really get it. People
are surprised that I understand it. Every one of these doctors
said, ‘How do you know so much about this? ‘ Maybe I have
a natural ability. Maybe I should have done that instead of
running for president.”
March 11: “... very important for countries & businesses to
know that trade will in no way be affected by the 30-day restriction
on travel from Europe. The restriction stops people
not goods.”
March 15: “This is a very contagious virus. It’s incredible. But
it’s something that we have tremendous control over.”
March 17: “I’ve always known this is a — this is a real — this
is a pandemic. I’ve felt it was a pandemic long before it was
called a pandemic.”
March 28: “WE WILL WIN THIS WAR. When we achieve
this victory, we will emerge stronger and more united than ever
before!” (US surpasses 100,000 coronavirus cases)
March 29: “And so, if we can hold that down... so we have
between 100- and 200,000 — we all, together, have done a
very good job.”
April 1: Nobody has ever seen anything like this, where large
groups of people, all of a sudden, just by being in the presence
of somebody, have it. The flu has never been like that.” Almost
190,000 US infections were reported the day before.
April 3 (on the recommendation to wear fabric masks for
protection): ”It’s going to be, really, a voluntary thing ... I’m
choosing not to do it, but some people may want to do it, and
that’s okay...”
April 7:“The W.H.O. really blew it. For some reason, funded
largely by the United States, yet very China centric. We will be
giving that a good look. Fortunately I rejected their advice on
keeping our borders open to China early on. Why did they give
us such a faulty recommendation?” On 11 March 2020, the
WHO officially declared the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic
April 23: An expert explained that bleach and disinfectants
can quickly kill the SARS CoV-2 pathogen on metallic
surfaces. Trump took this statement as the basis for
this statement regarding a treatment option for COVID-
19: “Right. And then I see the disinfectant, where it 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.
Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous
number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check
that.”... “It wouldn’t be through injection. We’re talking about
through almost a cleaning, sterilization of an area. Maybe it
works, maybe it doesn’t work. But it certainly has a big effect
if it’s on a stationary object.”
April 23: Trump has another proposal to combat SARS-
CoV-2: “So, supposing we hit the body with a tremendous —
whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light — and I think
you said that that hasn’t been checked, but you’re going to
test it. And then I said, supposing you brought the light inside
the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some
other way, and I think you said you’re going to test that too. It
sounds interesting.”
THE MANUAL ON VIRUSES
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