Trump warned a possible 2nd wave of Covid-19 due to George Floyd protests
US President Donald Trump has been eager to publicly turn the page on the coronavirus pandemic for weeks. Now fears are increasing within the White House that mass protests after the death of a black man George Floyd may cause the second wave. Trump has eagerly pronounced himself as the President of Law and Order, in response to the racial unrest that has swept across the country. Point to be noted that the country has lost more than 105,000 Americans. But political issues for the US President are still there. Thousands of Americans, many without protective face masks have jammed the nation’s streets over the past week and neglected the social distancing guidelines from governors and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
The White House coronavirus task force has dramatically scaled back its operations as states reopen their economies. It is scrambling to track the potential impact on infection rates. Republican strategist Alex Conant said a second wave, whether now or in September, would obviously be a setback to the economic recovery and Trump’s re-election hopes. Trump needs more than anything is a resurgence of consumer and business confidence. A second wave or prolonged civil unrest will undermine and it could take weeks to judge the impact of the nationwide protests on the spread of Covid-19. It had been dramatically ebbing across most of the country before the killing of Floyd.
Point to be noted that Floyd was a black man and died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee on Floyd’s neck for several minutes. The coronavirus coordinator of Trump administration, Dr. Deborah Birx has been monitoring the protests since their start. She is looking for indicators of a potential resurgence in cases. A White House official said Dr. Birx was expected to present the task force with early impressions this week but the fuller picture likely won’t be known for some time. The White House has prepared to handle a possible resurgence after deliberately placing the government’s public health response on the back burner to put more focus on restarting state economies.