In the middle of Absolute Power Week, Donald Trump announced that
today was the day he would explain how he was going to reopen
America—whether America likes it or not. In the Thursday afternoon
self-love rally, Trump intends to roll out the very un-detailed details
of where the nation is going to go. Or at least, where those states are
going to go if they want to avoid being forced into a “close-down” … whatever that is.
Parts of Trump’s plan have begun to leak out, and what’s there looks almost reasonable … except that it’s not. Because what’s been released is only the Good Stuff, without any evidence that there is actually any trace of a plan to keep Americans safe.
· Hunter
Parts of Trump’s plan have begun to leak out, and what’s there looks almost reasonable … except that it’s not. Because what’s been released is only the Good Stuff, without any evidence that there is actually any trace of a plan to keep Americans safe.
· Hunter
Trump: “Based on the
latest data, our team of experts agrees that we can begin the next front
in our war, which we are calling ‘Opening Up America Again.’” He
also claimed we have “passed the peak in new cases.”
· Hunter
· Hunter
In a poorly read speech,
Trump takes the tack of simply declaring victory, based on nothing. But
it’s unclear that his declaration will have any actual impact.
On Thursday, the U.K. released a plan for reopening the nation where the first step is … not reopening the nation. Instead, the U.K. announced that it would remain in lockdown for at least three more weeks and would not consider relaxing the social distancing guidelines in place nationwide unless a series of minimum goals were achieved and a reasonable degree of safety can be assured.
But what’s been seen of Trump’s plan so far seems to be exactly the opposite. The proposal lays out a three-step process for reopening the country that includes moving from limited reopening in phase one to a return to near normal in phase three. For example, in phase one, employers would be encouraged to begin bringing employees back in small numbers. By phase three, movie theaters would be at full capacity and only “vulnerable individuals” would be encouraged to practice social distancing.
What’s missing from any of these phases is any guidelines on what makes them at all feasible. There’s no set standard for required testing. There’s no provision for looking at the capacity of the healthcare system. There’s nothing in there that looks for warnings of a coming second wave. There’s nothing at all that suggests that there will be any regular review and potential rollback in response to signs of increasing illness.
It’s a plan that seems to represent a ton of rewards … without requiring any achievements. Which would be great, except that the stick which comes with this pile of carrots is likely to be in the form of bodies.
On Thursday, the U.K. released a plan for reopening the nation where the first step is … not reopening the nation. Instead, the U.K. announced that it would remain in lockdown for at least three more weeks and would not consider relaxing the social distancing guidelines in place nationwide unless a series of minimum goals were achieved and a reasonable degree of safety can be assured.
But what’s been seen of Trump’s plan so far seems to be exactly the opposite. The proposal lays out a three-step process for reopening the country that includes moving from limited reopening in phase one to a return to near normal in phase three. For example, in phase one, employers would be encouraged to begin bringing employees back in small numbers. By phase three, movie theaters would be at full capacity and only “vulnerable individuals” would be encouraged to practice social distancing.
What’s missing from any of these phases is any guidelines on what makes them at all feasible. There’s no set standard for required testing. There’s no provision for looking at the capacity of the healthcare system. There’s nothing in there that looks for warnings of a coming second wave. There’s nothing at all that suggests that there will be any regular review and potential rollback in response to signs of increasing illness.
It’s a plan that seems to represent a ton of rewards … without requiring any achievements. Which would be great, except that the stick which comes with this pile of carrots is likely to be in the form of bodies.
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