To the editor:

Although coming late to the party, it appears that President Trump has finally heeded the call of a worried nation to combat this unprecedented pandemic health crisis. But excuse me, Mr. President, if I’m not ready to don your campaign hat just yet.

As early as December there were warnings the coronavirus, with rapid transmissibility, was coming to our shores morphing into a worldwide pandemic. Trump ignoring these reports cost this nation valuable time to prevent and contain its spread. On Jan. 18, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar attempted to advise President Trump as to the likelihood the coronavirus could have a severe impact on the United States. Showing no interest, Trump turned the conversation to asking when flavored vaping products would be returned for sales in the market. Within the White House, top officials struggled to get Trump to take the situation seriously. According to reports, White House official Joe Brogan warned Mick Mulvaney that if the President didn’t take the spread of the virus seriously, it could cost him his reelection. Initially Trump discounted and denied the warnings, declaring it was a Democratic hoax. Later he acknowledged the existence of the coronavirus but minimized its importance and severity for weeks. On Jan. 22, knowing there were cases in the state of Washington, he was asked if he was worried about contagion and its possible impact on our nation. His response, “We have it totally under control.” At a Feb. 26 press conference with fifty-seven cases confirmed with coronavirus and several deaths, he confidently expressed, “We are going to be at only five people and we… could be down to close to zero.” Feb. 28, he shared yet another delusional observation, “Almost everybody we’ve seen is getting better and better and it could be everybody.” On March 13, with 2,179 confirmed cases of coronavirus, he reluctantly and soberly announced to the country we are facing a national pandemic crisis.

In all fairness, we may not have been able to prevent COVID-19 virus from entering our country. However, if President Trump would have heeded the warnings early on from our health officials with an immediate, aggressive and coordinated crisis response we could have kept this pandemic under control, mitigated its societal impact, better protected our dedicated health workers, and saved countless lives? Count: 53,400 infected, 690 deaths.