Chinese expert sees 75,000 daily cases in the US by August
Global Times
By Yu Xi and Xie Wenting Source:Global Times Published: 2020/7/3 21:43:40
Chinese expert sees 75,000 daily cases by August
The Trump administration's grand celebration plan for Independence Day or Fourth of July to boost the public's waning confidence in the government could be overshadowed by the country's grim coronavirus scenario, which set a new record for the sixth time in nine days, with Thursday's daily increase reaching an alarming more than 55,000 cases.
Experts warned Friday that Saturday's celebrations along with the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests across the US could lead to an explosive increase if too many people take to the streets, and would further push the country closer to 100,000 cases a day.
As of Friday afternoon, the total number of cases in the US surpassed 2.73 million - the world's highest, but the Trump administration still decided to go ahead with the "Salute to America" celebration with a massive fireworks display in Washington, DC. Meanwhile, it's reported that the Black Lives Matter group plans nationwide protests the same day.
Liang Manchun, an associate research fellow at the Institute for Public Safety Research of Tsinghua University, told the Global Times on Friday that the fireworks and parades on Saturday, and the Black Lives Matter movement, will lead to a further rise in the coronavirus infection rate, adding that he hopes Americans take better protective measures.
Liang told the Global Times that based on the current model, the number of new daily cases will likely reach 75,000 on August 1.
"Without effective measures, the number of daily infections in the US will likely reach 100,000 by mid-August," Liang said.
On Tuesday, US top disease researcher Dr. Anthony Fauci said he "would not be surprised" if the new cases in the US reach 100,000 a day.
While the world is concerned about the US' incompetence in containing the virus which could ruin other countries' efforts, some American politicians see this in a totally different way. Their arrogance even stunned Chinese netizens.
On Wednesday, Vice President Mike Pence said he "couldn't be more proud" of the country's response to the outbreak. He also claimed last week "more testing is generating more cases" in the US, and "to one extent or another, the volume of new cases coming in is a reflection of the great success in expanding testing across the country."
Data shows that by the end of June, China tested three times more than the US, but the number of confirmed cases in China was about three percent of the US'.
"Doesn't Pence understand the US coronavirus figures, or does he not understand what 'proud' means?" a Chinese netizen asked.
"The US should realize that it should not devote all its energies to passing the buck," another netizen said.
Zeng Guang, the chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Global Times on Friday that the growing pandemic in the US is not "accidental."
"The US did not act scientifically and failed to understand the severity of the outbreak," he said. "As the leader in the economy, military and medical science and technology, the US should not perform poorly in pandemic control."
However, Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Friday that the Trump administration very likely will stick to its policies in fighting the pandemic.
"Trump made his decisions based on election considerations. US politicians need the public to see their political performance. They're focused on either virus control or economic resumption. Trump may think the coronavirus cannot be controlled well, so he needs to have good economic figures."
The US is among the first countries to lift restrictions at a very early stage. A CNN report analyzing policies in 18 nations showed that lifting lockdowns too early can have "deadly consequences."
The report said the US, Brazil and India - three of world's four highest coronavirus case countries - have either failed to shut down properly or reopened prematurely.
Li warned that as the US loses control of the outbreak, the US elites, including the Trump administration, have one goal: to make Americans believe it is China's fault. However, this might only make things worse in the US and dampen China-US relations.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
