Chinanews.com, June 22, Question: "The epidemic" chaos the United States: "Lightness" that life cannot bear
Author: Li Hongyu He Lu Man
"Unfortunately, one of the problems facing the United States is that some people have an anti-scientific tendency for some reason... They don't believe in science, they don't believe in authority."
For the reason why the United States has long been the most severely affected area in the world, the top American infectious disease scientist Anthony Fodge pointed out that there is a phenomenon of "anti-science bias" in the country.
Data map: American infectious disease scientist Anthony Fudge. (Pictured)
The New Crown epidemic is like a magnifying glass, highlighting the Trump administration's contempt and contempt for scientific knowledge and medical laws in the public's view. Behind this, is a heavy price that American society cannot bear-the safety of people's lives.
Reckless assembly: Putting politics above science
In responding to the epidemic, the White House "put politics above science." Officials from the US Centers for Disease Control have said so.
In the past week, 10 states across the United States have reported a sharp rise in the number of confirmed cases of the new crown. Some research institutions even predict that the death of the new crown in the United States may exceed 200,000 after more than three months, on October 1, 2020.
In this grim situation, on the evening of June 20, local time, in Tulsa, Oklahoma's second largest city, US President Trump still restarted his large-scale rally campaign for re-election. Ignoring the calls and warnings of medical experts to maintain social distance, ignoring the characteristics of virus-to-human transmission, the assembly did not even require participants to wear masks, Trump himself did not wear masks, and praised the participants as "warriors."
Data graph: US President Trump. China News Agency reporter Chen Meng Tongshe
Some people may be infected with the new crown virus because of participating in election rallies. American media pointed out that Trump is very clear about this. But he believes that "this will only happen to a small number of people."
In fact, as early as April 4, the US Centers for Disease Control began to recommend that people use masks to cover their faces for epidemic prevention. But in Trump's view, the real purpose of some Americans putting on masks is not to prevent the virus, but to "take the opportunity to express their oppositional political stance."
Trump seems to be more concerned about whether he can obtain a high level of support, rather than how to properly respond to the epidemic. American media commented.
The danger of credulity: who has been hurt by unscientific remarks?
In order to downplay the impact of the new crown epidemic, Trump often speaks shockingly without scientific evidence.
"The new coronavirus will not spread in the United States", "the virus will magically disappear", "patients do not need to go to the hospital or seek a doctor, they can continue to work, the body can heal itself", ignore the side effects of hydroxychloroquine, touted it It is a "magic special medicine"... Although these claims are "slapped" by facts and professional opinions, Trump did not take it seriously, nor did he learn to act prudently.
On May 21, local time, US President Trump was photographed by the media while inspecting the Ford plant in Michigan and still did not wear a mask.
"Every doctor asks me, how do you understand so much, maybe I have a natural ability. Maybe I should not run for president, but go to the doctor." When he visited the US Centers for Disease Control in March, he boasted without humility.
Sadly, many people have been poisoned by misuse of disinfectants because of hearing Trump’s statement that “injection of disinfectants can kill the new crown virus”. Some unscrupulous traders even use this statement as a "living sign" touting industrial bleach.
The British "Guardian" pointed out that Trump's blatant contempt for fact-based scientific thinking has fueled the arrogance of a large group of "Jianghu Langzhong", pseudo-science groups and conspiracy theorists, and they have affected more people.
In addition, in a review article entitled "We Are All Victims of Trump's Science War," the New York Times wrote: The emergency caused by the new coronavirus can only be solved with sound scientific knowledge. However, the Trump administration's "disdain for professional knowledge and the attitude of placing blind loyalty above technical capabilities are directly threatening the health of the American people."
Contemptuous treatment: "I am frustrated that the voice of the scientist cannot be heard"
In order to realize the private interests of politicians, the space of American rational voice has been squeezed. Since the end of April, US epidemic prevention experts have been “disappeared” from the media platform, and the press conference of the White House Working Group on Epidemic Response has also been cancelled. The US Centers for Disease Control, which should have been the leading role in the national public health response, is even more Be marginalized.
In May, a data scientist named Rebecca Jones was expelled from the local government for refusing to change the new crown epidemic data.
Jones said that in order to cater to Governor De Santis's intention to speed up the economic restart, Florida masked the true epidemic data. She was expelled because she refused to use the state government's algorithm to tamper with the data, which indirectly "impeded" Florida's recovery plan.
On June 10 local time, Miami Beach, Florida closed for the first time nearly three months after it closed.
Afterwards, she created a website called "Fuzhou New Crown Community Action Network", and called on the local people to post the epidemic data directly on the website to ensure that the information is true, accurate, open and transparent.
Jones has no regrets about his decision. She said: "I decided to do something constructive and use my long-standing skills to do something really useful. People have the right to put aside politics and understand and recognize something intuitively and objectively."
There are not a few scientists like Jones who have been forced to dismiss.
On April 21, Rick Bright, former director of the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Administration, was removed from office because he "opposes the use of drugs related to political factors, such as hydroxychloroquine, to fight the new crown epidemic."
Source: Rick Bright, former director of the US Advanced Research and Development Agency in Biomedicine.
As early as January, Bright had issued a new crown virus warning to the US government, and first expressed concern about the shortage of masks. He also opposed the US government's respect for the hydroxychloroquine drug, saying that the drug "lacked scientific value" in response to the epidemic, and repeatedly refused to expand its scope of application.
"I am frustrated that the voice of scientists cannot be heard by the US government," Bright said. "We must tell the truth to the American people. The facts must be based on science, and scientists should be allowed to tell the truth without worrying about being dismissed."
The Washington Post pointed out in a report in early 2020 that the number of scientists working in the government has been declining since Trump took office, and most positions have remained vacant since then. According to the article's statistics, at least 1,600 scientists have left, most of them are experts in chemistry, geology, hydrology, soil protection and social sciences.
Harvard University environmental scientist John Holdren said that the Trump administration’s current approach to science and expertise is “a shame on many levels”, “Trump’s nonsense misleads the public Risks, but also lead the top scientists to deal with the epidemic, have to divert their energy to eliminate the adverse effects of Trump."
Consequences of contempt: painfully showing the meaning of "America First"
In fact, ignoring science in epidemic prevention is nothing but the tip of the iceberg of the Trump administration’s anti-scientific behavior in the past few years.
The New York Times published an article on April 28 stating that although successive US governments have ignored scientific discoveries that conflict with political or policy priorities to varying degrees, the Trump administration’s attacks on technology and expertise, It's much more serious.
After taking office, cutting scientific research budgets, cutting off climate-related research, dissolving expert advisory committees, suppressing or tampering with climate change research results... are nothing more than the "conventional practices" that the Trump administration devalues or ignores science.
Data map: On April 29, 2017 local time, a tens of thousands of people marched in Washington to protest Trump's climate and energy policies. China News Service reporter Diao Haiyang
For Naomi Oresque, a professor of history of science at Harvard University, the disaster that the United States is experiencing is exactly what she fears most.
"When I first heard about the new coronavirus, several of my colleagues and I worried that Trump would not heed scientific advice. Because he disregarded scientific evidence about climate change completely. Since he can do this (ignoring the science of climate change) Evidence), then whether he will take other scientific evidence seriously becomes a question." She said.
As of the evening of June 22, according to the real-time statistics of Johns Hopkins University in the United States, the United States is the world's most severe country with a new crown epidemic, with a total of nearly 2.3 million confirmed cases and nearly 120,000 deaths.
The picture is taken from the real-time data website of Johns Hopkins University in the United States.
William Burns, a senior U.S. diplomat and current president of the Carnegie Institution for International Peace, said, "Trump's handling of the epidemic at home and abroad is more painful than any incident since he took office. The meaning of'America First'."
"The United States has become the country with the highest number of deaths and infections in the world, and we have become a symbol of global incompetence. The damage to the influence and reputation of the United States will be difficult to recover."