The New York Times reports:
If the United States had begun imposing social distancing measures one week earlier than it did in March, about 36,000 fewer people would have died in the coronavirus outbreak, according to new estimates from Columbia University disease modelers.
And if the country had begun locking down cities and limiting social contact on March 1, two weeks earlier than most people started staying home, the vast majority of the nation’s deaths — about 83 percent — would have been avoided, the researchers estimated. Under that scenario, about 54,000 fewer people would have died by early May.
The enormous cost of waiting to take action reflects the unforgiving dynamics of the outbreak that swept through American cities in early March. Even small differences in timing would have prevented the worst exponential growth, which by April had subsumed New York City, New Orleans and other major cities, the researchers found.
Trump attacked the authors of a Columbia U study finding there would’ve been many fewer deaths with earlier distancing, calling it a “political hit job” and saying Columbia is “very liberal.” This is his now-familiar approach to findings he doesn’t like. https://t.co/WSeZfvLYme
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) May 21, 2020
When asked about if the US should have shut down earlier, Trump says Columbia University study is “liberal.” Adds it was a “political hit job.” Trump says Pelosi “was dancing in the streets of San Francisco..Chinatown”
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) May 21, 2020
Trump answers question about report showing earlier lockdowns could have saved 36,000 lives by hyping up his China travel ban, claiming Nancy Pelosi was dancing in the streets of Chinatown, and then dismissing the study as a “political hit job” because Columbia is “very liberal” pic.twitter.com/lZ6C0flyrO
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) May 21, 2020
Here is a quote from Trump:
“I tested very positively in another sense so— this morning. Yeah. I tested positively toward negative, right. So. I tested perfectly this morning. Meaning I tested negative.” pic.twitter.com/xA0DBUcfr9
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 21, 2020
Trump to reporters: “I’d like to put you on the rocket, get rid of you for a while!”
??? pic.twitter.com/ZKaCyDiUHy
— Raheem Kassam (@RaheemKassam) May 21, 2020
President @realDonaldTrump on mail-in ballots: We don’t want them, it will lead to total election fraud! pic.twitter.com/8hct2BPHYL
— Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) May 21, 2020