March 24: On This Day In 2020
It was only a week after he had declared a national emergency. Case counts had passed the 100,000 mark, and over 1,000 Americans had already been killed.
But, maybe he didn’t notice, because OTDI 2020 Trump told Fox News that he thought the country would be humming again for Easter, only two weeks in the future. “So I think Easter Sunday and you’ll have packed churches all over our country. I think it would be a beautiful time. And it’s just about the timeline that I think is right,” he said.
“As we near the end of our historic battle with the invisible enemy,” is how Trump phrased it. But, as we have seen in previous OTDIs, Trump was warned that Covid was probably going to continue far longer and be far deadlier. It seems likely this was presidential ineptitude and lying on a scale seldom seen in American history.
Health professionals were awestruck at the president’s apparent ignorance. “This is the making of a major public health disaster. I am not sure where he is getting his information from, but it is extremely flawed,” said Dr. Tina Tan of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
In fairness, Trump admitted it was he, and he alone, who dreamed up the Easter reopening scenario.
Meanwhile, it was clear even then that churches could be superspreaders. One in South Korea accounted for 5,080 cases--more than half the country’s total to that point. A choir practice at a church in Washington resulted in >60 cases. Other outbreaks came from churches in places such as rural Arkansas, Sacramento, and Brooklyn.
Nevertheless, Donald persisted.
Sources/Links for further reading
Trump interviewed on Fox News about reopening the country after Covid lockdowns.
CNBC report, including reaction from health experts
The American Prospect has the story on some instances of Covid outbreaks linked to church services
On This Day In The Trump Administration: Trump Pretends Covid Will End By Easter Sunday. He probably knew better, so it's a massive lie.