Coronavirus

“I always say, even without it, it goes away”

Written by SK Ashby

Trump held a brief ceremony in the Rose Garden outside the White House this afternoon where he signed a token, unenforceable executive order on "police reform" that doesn't actually do anything, but he also used the occasion to ramble about the coronavirus.

Trump casually said we'll have a vaccine by the end of the year but, even if we don't, the coronavirus pandemic will still magically disappear without a vaccine.

Trump also referenced the existence of an AIDS vaccine which does not exist.

Of the scientists, he said: “They’ve come up with things. They’ve come up with many other cures and therapeutics over the years. These are the people, the best, the smartest, the most brilliant anywhere. They’ve come up with the AIDS vaccine.” [...]

Outside of his erroneous claims about an AIDS vaccine, Trump once again said that the coronavirus will eventually go away if a vaccine does not get developed.

“I always say, even without it, it goes away. But if we had the vaccine ― and we will ― if we had therapeutic or cure, one thing sort of blends into the other. It will be a fantastic day and I think that’s going to happen. And it’s going to happen very soon,” he rambled.

It's perfect -- in a chef's kiss kind of way -- that Trump would reference one non-existent vaccine while saying the coronavirus will vanish without one because that is why HIV and AIDS are still a thing decades after it was first discovered. About 37 years after AIDS was found in the United States, there's still no vaccine. It did not disappear without one. Infectious diseases and viruses do not just disappear.

And speaking of the virus not magically disappearing -- the city of Miami, Florida is now hitting the pause button on their plans to reopen because Florida has just set a new daily record for new infections.

Miami, among Florida's most populous cities, won't move into the next phase of reopening because of concern over rising COVID-19 cases, Mayor Francis Suarez announced at a Monday news conference. [...]

“If we continue on this trajectory, we are going to be put in the position where we have to make tough choices,” Suarez said, noting that there had been an uptick in infections among people ages 18 to 35.

In China, where they more or less conquered the virus earlier this year, they're shutting down all schools and sports in the capital of Beijng because the virus is back.

The spate of new cases prompted officials in many parts of the city to swiftly bring back tough counter-epidemic measures, with at least three districts entering "war-time mode."

Measures imposed included erecting round-the-clock security checkpoints, closing schools and sports venues, and reinstating temperature checks at malls, supermarkets and office buildings.

Given that most of what Trump says is the exact opposite of what happens, one may infer that's he's actually saying there will be no vaccine this year and the virus won't disappear.

You could be generous and say Trump was implying that we'll eventually have herd immunity because the virus will infect virtually everyone at some point, but that does not translate to the virus disappearing. It would still live within our bodies, we'd simply have some level of immunity to it.

But Trump is not that smart, so there's no reason to be generous.

We'll reach 120,000 COVID19 deaths in the next day or two.