America Is Beating This Virus
An unprecedented national emergency is still well underway as I write this. Just a few days ago, the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, announced a 30-day extension of the social distancing policy he urges all Americans to follow during this current CCP Virus pandemic.
As the days have passed by, it's become clearer than ever that both the federal and state governments were completely unprepared to handle a 'black swan' event like this. Almost every emergency system in this country has now been tested and found wanting these past few weeks.
It has come out that the national stockpile of protective masks, depleted during the Swine Flu epidemic of 2009-2010, was never restocked by the Obama administration.
During that 2009 pandemic, work began on a vaccine that would today be able to prevent contracting coronavirus, but it wasn't followed up to completion once the threat was over. That was a huge missed opportunity in hindsight.
It has also been starkly revealed that many states had not done the required preparation for a medical emergency like this. State stockpiles of medical supplies and equipment were seriously low, if they were supplied at all.
Instead of reacting as an elite member of the political class would have, turning this massive crisis into an opportunity to expand government power over the private sector, Trump has done the exact opposite. As I explained in my last column here at UncoverDC, if the plan was to reduce Trump to helpless tears as he struggled impotently within a hopeless federal system designed to fail, that plan has utterly failed.
Trump is working miracles. Stuff people said would never happen or would take weeks, if not months, he has been making happen in a matter of days.
Trump can work these miracles because he knew what to do and where to turn in order to make things happen quickly instead of at their usual sedate government pace. While he has made excellent use of federal agencies and the emergency powers of his office, most of the critical response to this virus catastrophe has come from his recruitment of key private industry and business sector people.
He has unleashed the full power of the private sector where the federal and state governments have utterly failed. He cut mountains of red tape, waived thousands of regulations, and has assembled a team of AMERICANS from all sectors to work together to respond to this imminent threat.
AND IT'S WORKING.
Not since World War II has the private sector been “enlisted” by the government for such a widespread war effort. And make no mistake, this fight against this CCP Virus is a war. That's why President Trump frequently states this country is now locked in a war with “an invisible enemy”.
Here is a list of the private sector companies Trump has unleashed to help the country win this current war. These are the captains of industry who are really saving the country:
TESTING AND VIRUS-FIGHTING DRUGS
It was projected that it would take weeks, if not months, for new testing kits to be produced. Private sector ingenuity unleashed on that problem blew all the projections away.
While the press whined about it daily, the testing numbers skyrocketed as over a dozen companies worldwide tackled the problem and produced new tests and rushed them into production. One such newly developed test can accurately diagnose whether a person has the CCP Virus in as little as five minutes.
Wal-Mart, Walgreens, Target, CVS and other pharmacy stores quickly volunteered space for testing sites and streamlined their drug prescription systems to handle the coming workload.
President Trump, mentioning the early successful trials and results of the hydroxychloroquine/AZT treatment of CCP Virus patients, actually led to Democrats and the DNC Media [but I repeat myself!] instantly claiming those drugs were “dangerous” and it was the height of irresponsibility for the President to give the nation “false hope”.
The Democratic governors of Nevada & Michigan quickly leaped to ban doctors from prescribing hydroxychloroquine & AZT off label to treat COVID-19, before later belatedly reversing themselves when the positive results of several more clinical trials were publicized.
It was fantastic news that an old drug, already in wide distribution to combat malaria and lupus, could successfully treat people that were sick with the CCP Virus. But Trump Derangement Syndrome meant we all had to spend a week watching political elites lie and attack these drugs because this President talked about them being a 'game changer'.
Millions of hydroxychloroquine pills are now available, donated by drug companies like Bayer and Novartis, Mylan and Teva to help in this fight.
VENTILATORS
Car manufacturers, much as they did during World War II with tanks and airplanes, are committing their assembly lines to making thousands of new ventilators.
Ford & Tesla have shut down their factories to retool them to make new and much needed ventilators. General Motors is also aiding in this effort, but more on that in a minute.
And let's not forget that many of the medical companies that have long made ventilators kicked their production into high gear weeks ago. They did not wait for the federal government or the states to make orders with them for new ventilators.
MASKS AND OTHER PROTECTIVE GEAR
Defense companies as well as clothing and pillow manufacturers are retooling their production lines to make masks, gowns and other much needed medical Personal Protection Equipment [PPE's].
Honeywell announced they are hiring 500 new workers in Arizona to produce new N-95 masks, while United Technologies is beginning the production of face shields
My Pillow, Jockey and many other companies have committed to producing thousands of pieces of PPE per week. My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell is shifting 75% of his company’s production to making masks. Currently Lindell says his company can produce 10,000 units a day, but he hopes to have that output ramped up to 50,000 a day soon.
Meanwhile Jockey International CEO Debra Waller said that in World War II Jockey made parachutes and “...It is part of our DNA to roll up our sleeves and help our country in her time of need.” Jockey is committing to manufacturing and donating 250,000 Tier 3 medical gowns.
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Now that the CCP Virus relief bill has passed Congress and the President has signed it, banks are now in a position to do their part. Passing the bill was only the beginning; now the funds need to be disbursed to the people that need it. Bank of America already has its small business loan web portal set up and running.
Not All Are Eager to Help In A Timely Fashion
In a national crisis speed is of the essence and Trump has begun invoking the Defense Production Act in a few select cases.
Trump has invoked the DPA twice thus far with both General Motors and now 3M.
It appears with GM the contract talks to produce new ventilators were taking too long and there simply isn't enough time during a national emergency to let some companies slow walk their way through the normal contract processes.
3M's CEO balked at stopping shipments of PPE gear to foreign nations. Trump then ordered FEMA to prevent 3M from exporting any more PPE, and there has been a report from Germany that a shipment of masks was 'pirated'.
Despite these rare instances, overall, the big picture is of an American business sector already facing financial hardships due to this pandemic rolling up their sleeves and selflessly pitching in to help.
Many of these companies not only will not make any profit from their efforts in this fight, they know they are going to be sacrificing millions of dollars.
People who think this is a country founded on greed are being forced to watch something they literally can't explain.
Americans being great in self-sacrifice, no matter what sector of the country they work in.
Brian Cates entered the political arena in March 2012, following the death of Andrew Breitbart. He is currently a political columnist for The Epoch Times and UncoverDC. Brian is based in South Texas and is the author of: “Nobody Asked For My Opinion … But Here It Is Anyway!”
Twitter: @drawandstrike
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