A Tale of Two Leaders

Saturday--Jeff

Greece has 16,627 reported Covid cases and 366 deaths. The US population is 30 times that of Greece, which after adjusting for comparative purposes, equates to approximately 500,000 Covid cases and 11,000 deaths in Greece--compared to 7,000,000 cases and 203,000 deaths in the United States. Bottom line, after adjusting for their different populations, America has 14 times the cases of infection and more than 18 times the deaths than Greece.

Why is that, one might ask.  I think the answer lies in the different approaches taken by their respective national leadership as reflected in the following excerpts (edited to eliminate opinion from fact) drawn from reporting by Greece’s newspaper of record, Ekathimerini, and CNN (US).

Ekathimerini on Prime Minister Mitsotakis:

Prime Minister Mitsotakis

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis appealed to the public on Thursday to wear masks and comply with health safety regulations so that stricter coronavirus containment measures can be averted, saying that it is a choice between “self-protection and lockdown.”

“The mask is our vaccination until we have a vaccination,” Mitsotakis said in a televised appeal to the public, warning that failure to comply and brings down the number of new infections and hospitalizations will lead to lockdown measures.

Lockdowns mean closed businesses and unemployment,” Mitsotakis said, warning of the damage to the already beleaguered economy by stricter restrictions and of the impact on society.

“The weeks ahead will likely determine the months and maybe even years to come, so we need to stay a step ahead of the coronavirus rather than behind it,” the prime minister added. “Managing the pandemic is not a pendulum that swings from total lockdown to total complacency,” he said.

CNN on President Trump:

President Trump and Dr. Fauci

As the US death toll from the pandemic passed 200,000, Dr. Anthony Fauci [America’s top infectious disease expert] warned Tuesday that he was worried that the high base level of infections could make it difficult to keep the virus under control in the colder months…

Fauci spoke while medical indicators head in a perilous direction as the US approaches its 7 millionth infection. Cases are rising in 24 states, Washington, DC, and two territories…. And there are now more than 59,000 cases of coronavirus on college campuses, after many schools decided to open despite adopting insufficient safety measures. 

Notre Dame canceled its game on Saturday against Wake Forest after seven Fighting Irish players tested positive for the virus. The move comes just a week after Trump claimed he had orchestrated the return of football for many of Notre Dame's Midwest (and battleground state) neighbors in the Big Ten conference…

"I think we've done an amazing job ... in my opinion we're rounding the turn," the President said in an interview… On Monday, he had claimed the virus "affects virtually nobody" while doubling down on previous claims that young people are "virtually immune" …

Asked about the 200,000 deaths as he headed out to another campaign event Tuesday in Pittsburgh, with a non-socially distanced crowd, the President said "it's a shame" but claimed he had nevertheless saved millions of lives.

And on Tuesday evening, the President mocked his election opponent, Democratic nominee Joe Biden, who has been observing the safety protocols recommended by Trump's government, for wearing a mask…

Trump's repeated predictions that a vaccine will be available before or around Election Day significantly outpace the optimism of most health experts and understate the complicated, months-long process that will be needed to get it to most Americans…

The President has in recent days taken to highlighting an alarming rise of new Covid-19 cases in Europe, … But he appears not to have considered that signs of a second wave abroad could be a worrying omen on this side of the Atlantic, which has a far higher baseline of infections and did not enjoy Europe's summer respite.

In other words, May God have mercy on our souls.

Hart Island, NYC.  Photo by Lucas Jackson, Reuters

--Jeff