SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) — A local doctor said he’s concerned with President Trump’s words and actions after being released Monday from Walter Reed Military Medical Center while infected with the coronavirus.
Dr. Peter Chin-Hong noted Trump’s display at the White House with removing his mask and stuffing it in his suit jacket pocket.
“He’s completely infectious,” said the infectious disease physician at UCSF.
Chin-Hong pointed out that the mask he took off could now land on a surface or be in contact with someone in the White House staff.
In a tweet Tuesday morning, Trump falsely compared COVID-19 with the flu. Twitter and Facebook have both since flagged these social media posts as misinformation.
“Flu season is coming up! Many people every year, sometimes over 100,000, and despite the Vaccine, die from the Flu. Are we going to close down our Country? No, we have learned to live with it, just like we are learning to live with Covid, in most populations far less lethal!!!“
According to the Centers for Disease Control, in the 2018-2019 season there were 34,200 American deaths from influenza. As of October 2020, over 209,000 people have died in the U.S. alone from the coronavirus.
“Politics should align with science,” Chin-Hong said, not undermine it.
The president, who gets “as much free treatment as he desires from military doctors in the White House Medical Unit” according to the LA Times, also tweeted that people should not be afraid of the coronavirus.
“Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life,” he tweeted when he announced his hospital discharge after three nights of medical care.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, however, maintained that the impacts of COVID-19 should not be downplayed.
The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has spent the year warning of the risks as Trump continued to flip the script.
In response to Trump’s recent comments, Fauci said, “Obviously, the message should be that we should try as best we can to avoid infection. Now matter who you are, how old you are or what your underlying condition is, we should not trivialize it.”
Compare the numbers: Flu vs. COVID-19
COVID-19 in the U.S. (as of Oct. 6, 2020, via worldometers.info)
- 7.6 million infected
- 215,000+ deaths
Influenza in the U.S. (2018-2019 via the CDC)
- 35.5 million sick
- 34,200 deaths
KRON is continuing to keep track of top U.S. officials who tested positive for coronavirus after Trump’s result was publicized on Thursday, October 1. Many of the people who are positive were in attendance at what’s being called a White House “super-spreader” event at the Rose Garden. The ceremony was for Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, Amy Coney Barrett.
In photos, the event was shown to violate multiple guidelines. White House officials and guests were seen hugging and shaking hands, speaking in close groups without masks and were seated shoulder-to-shoulder.
