Vaccines are the only hope for the US; the virus horse has bolted

American deaths are equivalent to Hobart, daily infections equate to Darwin’s population.

The size and speed of the coronavirus pandemic now scorching the United States is hard for the rest of the world to comprehend. So let’s put it into an Australian context.

As of today, a quarter of a million Americans are now dead from COVID-19. That is equal to losing the entire population of Hobart. Every. Single. Person.

Each day now more than 180,000 Americans are becoming infected with the virus. That is more than the whole population of Darwin. Every. Single. Day.

So far, more than 11.7 million Americans have been infected. That is the equivalent of every Australian who lives Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory and Tasmania catching COVID-19.

Of course the US is a much larger country than Australia, so it’s not an apples-for-apples comparison.

But when you adjust for the different populations in each country, the scale of America’s tragedy compared to Australia’s experience is just as stark.

In the past week, according to John Hopkins University, Australia recorded 106 new infections (most in hotel quarantine) which translates to 1,378 new cases if we had America’s population.

By contrast the US in the past week recorded 1.1 million new cases and 8,091 deaths. Australia recorded zero deaths.

Over the whole pandemic, Australia has had 27,777 infections, which is 361,000 if adjusted for the US population.

By comparison America has had 11.37 million infections — a like-for-like infection rate that is more than 30 times higher than in Australia.

If Australia’s 907 deaths are adjusted for the US population it comes to 11,921. In the US, 250,000 have now died.

These comparisons tell us much about how the two countries have handled the pandemic.

Of course Australia started with a massive natural advantage of being an island nation, with the ability to close down borders in the way that the US cannot.

Australia also has a far smaller population as well as a stronger and more competent federal government to exert a more co-ordinated response.

And Australians are also much more compliant people, willing to behave and accept tough government-imposed lockdowns like in Victoria and South Australia.

By contrast, the US response to the pandemic has been a failure at almost every level.

The country is ill-prepared for any pandemic because it is such a loose patchwork of States, each with their own rules and systems, making federal nationwide co-ordination a nightmare.

On top of this came the bigger nightmare of Donald Trump who proved himself singularly unable to rise to his moment in history in dealing with the virus.

Trump’s early denials, his refusal to warn the population, his advocacy of witch-doctor remedies, his abdication of federal leadership and his scorning of mask-wearing have contributed greatly to the number of American dead. As a result, he is a one-term president.

But city mayors and governors, both Democrat and Republican, also bear their fair share of blame for their own short-sighted, uneven and piecemeal responses.

The real concern is what happens now, at a time when new infections are rising faster than ever before.

Trump has all but given up. He spends his days sulking in the White House about the election result and appears disinterested in the enormity of the unfolding tragedy.

Some Governors and mayors, including in Republican states, are being forced to reimpose restrictions, but these fall well short of any Australian-style lockdown.

In any case, an Australian-style lockdown would never work in the US. Americans are too libertarian to accept such restrictions on their personal freedoms. They don’t like being told what to do by Governments. Wearing a mask is too much for many, much less being forced to stay at home all day.

Too many Americans are also hurting badly through the loss of jobs and income and the country is in no mood to shut down the economy to combat the virus.

Even the president-elect Joe Biden, who promised on the campaign trail to shut down the virus is stepping carefully around the question of whether tougher lockdowns are needed.

Americans are now facing their most dangerous moment in this pandemic. Infection rates are out of control, with death rates already spiking. The president is out to lunch and unlikely to return. Biden has yet to take power. The trajectories for infections and deaths are off the charts. There is no clear plan.

No wonder Wall St went hysterical at news that two vaccines are showing promise. They seem like America’s only hope right now because when it comes to the virus, the horse has bolted.

(Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia)