Coronavirus: Donald Trump cites Australia to justify anti-lockdown stance

Donald Trump is pointing to Australia to prove his stance that a coronavirus lockdown in the US “would inflict more harm than it would prevent”.

US President Donald Trump has cited the worsening coronavirus situation in Australia to justify his stance that a lockdown “would inflict more harm than it would prevent”.

Speaking to reporters at today’s White House briefing, Mr Trump reeled off a list of countries he said were suffering “flare-ups” after thinking they had the virus under control.

“It’s important for all Americans to recognise that a permanent lockdown is not a viable path toward producing the result that you want, or certainly not a viable path forward, and ultimately would inflict more harm than it would prevent,” the President said.

“As we’re seeing in foreign countries around the world, where cases are once again surging. You have many places where we thought they were under control and doing a great job – and they are doing a great job. But this is a very tough, invisible enemy.”

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Mr Trump pointed out that “lockdowns do not prevent infection in the future”.

“They just don’t,” he said.

“It comes back. Many times, it comes back. The purpose of a lockdown is to buy time to build capacity, especially with respect to hospitals, learn more about the disease, and develop effective treatments, as we did in the United States. We’re doing very well with the vaccines and the therapeutics.

“Countries where there have been very significant flare-ups over the last short period of time are Spain, Germany, France, Australia, Japan and also, as you probably heard, in Hong Kong they’ve had some very serious flare-ups.

“We must focus on protecting those at highest risk, while allowing younger and healthier Americans to resume work and school.”

US President Donald Trump. Picture: Brendan Smialowski/AFP

Let’s look at those flare-ups he mentioned in more detail.

At the start of June, Spain had brought its daily case numbers down into the low hundreds. But in the last week, that has risen to more than 2000 new infections per day. It recorded nine deaths yesterday.

At the peak of Germany’s epidemic, it was dealing with more than 6000 new cases a day. At the moment, its daily numbers are hovering between 600 and 1100. It suffered two deaths yesterday.

France is in the middle of a sharper spike. Yesterday it recorded 2800 cases, and its daily death rate is in the teens.

Here in Australia, we’ve gone from a daily case number in the single digits in early June to more than 600 infections per day now. Our death toll has almost doubled in a month.

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Japan was down to a few dozen cases each day throughout May and June, but is now stuck between about 800 and 1400. Its death toll is still negligible by global standards.

Hong Kong is currently enduring its worst spike of the pandemic, with a little over 100 cases a day. On August 1 it recorded its highest ever number of deaths, with six.

Of course, these figures all pale in comparison to the United States, which is approaching five million confirmed infections and 160,000 deaths.

The US is recording between 50,000 and 70,000 cases a day, and about 1000 deaths.

“I think we’re doing very well,” Mr Trump said at the briefing.

“And I think we have done as well as any nation. If you really look, if you take a look at what’s going on – especially now, with all these flare-ups in nations that they were talking about – and don’t forget, we are much bigger, other than India and China.

“China’s having a massive flare-up right now. India’s having a massive problem. Other countries have problems, and I noticed that, in the news, in the evening news, I never read about that. In any of the news. I don’t read about the other countries. You’re starting to see that other countries are having very big flare-ups. Countries that thought they were over it.

“Like we thought we might be over it in Florida, and then it comes back. They do come back.”

India is genuinely suffering from a large spike in infections, with more than 50,000 per day, though its death toll has only exceeded 1000 on two days throughout the whole pandemic.

China’s official infection rate has remained low and steady since it claimed to have beaten the virus back in February and March, though whether that government’s figures can be trusted is certainly up for debate.

It has reported a grand total of two deaths since the middle of April.

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“I think we’re doing very well,” Mr Trump repeated.