Holland-America’s cruise ship Zaandam set sail from Argentina on March 7 with 305 passengers. As of today, four passengers are dead, 138 are showing coronavirus symptoms (no testing is available) and no port has been willing to let them dock.
On March 7, Robert Redfield, President Trump’s appointee to head the CDC was in Broward County Florida urging people to carry on their lives normally.
On the same day, Vice President Pence was encouraging people to continue to go on cruises.
I believe that President Trump’s China travel ban was a good move but it was not sufficient and that the desire to promote normal life kept the US from focusing sufficient on testing and stocking up on necessary equipment.
As the situation grows more dire on a national basis (the red states are not testing at nearly the rate of the blue states and new hotspots such as New Orleans keep emerging) we hear a rising chorus from President Trump and supporters like Chuck Norris bring us to avoid or end serious efforts to end the scourge.
We know the death rate far exceeds the flu, we know the infectious potential of the disease is high, we know we lack enough test kits, medical gear, hospital beds and medical staff to deal with the current growth in infections.
Should we see today’s “get back to normal” voices any more than those voices who were raised three weeks ago with the same message.
Are we all sailing on the Zaandam?
