By Devoting Itself To Combating the Epidemic, the US Can Avoid the Worst*

In the United States, the cumulative death toll from the new coronavirus surpassed China’s death toll early Wednesday morning, Beijing time. According to statistics from the past 24 hours, the single-day death toll from COVID-19 in the U.S. reached 857, surpassing both Italy and Spain, and making it the highest death toll in any country in the world on that day. This unfortunate news deserves our sympathy.

Washington’s failure to respond well has cost the American people greatly. Given that the United States’ superb national strength and unmatched ability to facilitate international cooperation, it still has a chance to prevent the widely predicted worst-case scenario and reduce the number of American lives lost.

Given its domestic political situation, the U.S. government has previously been reluctant to act and and distracted. From an outside perspective, the U.S. has not yet established the scale of social mobilization needed to combat this epidemic. Although social distancing is being encouraged, it is not firm or thorough enough. Up until a few days ago, the federal government was still suggesting the country could return to work by Easter, indicating how inconsistent judgments are about the situation and making it difficult to implement an effective plan of action.

The U.S. government announced a $2 trillion stimulus package, and another wave of stimulus plans is also being prepared. However, if the epidemic* is not contained, then no matter how many stimulus packages are passed, their impact will still be limited. Washington needs to invest more in forcefully suppressing the epidemic. Once the virus has been fought off, the economy will automatically flourish once again.

The time has come for the U.S. to unite the power of domestic and international forces in combating the coronavirus. China has just gone through a most difficult period, and as members of the Chinese media, we have some suggestions for Washington that people in China have widely discussed.

First of all, it is never too late to make up for lost time, and this will always hold true. The U.S. needs to immediately adopt a high-level nationwide response without any hesitation. Interstate traffic in the U.S. and intracity traffic in severely affected cities should be limited to prevent individual movement and close contact. Communities need to completely stop nonessential face-to-face communications and strongly enforce stay-at-home orders for residents of key cities.

Don’t consider this a centralized state approach; these actions have nothing to do with politics. These are simply a summary of suggested actions based on experience with the virus. Before the United States was impacted, people in China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, Spain, etc., fell seriously ill. There are many lessons to be learned from these countries, and Washington does not have to start from scratch. So long as the U.S. casts off traditional geopolitical thinking and faces the world with an open mind, the path forward will suddenly become clear.

Second, all possible efforts should be made to admit all patients to hospitals for treatment, even those with only mild symptoms. This is yet another effective measure to stop community spread of the virus. The hospital is not only a place to save people, but also a place in which to gather all sources of the infection and isolate them from society. This is also one of the main reasons why every country should establish a large number of modular hospitals. Only when all patients are admitted to the hospital for treatment will the epidemic in the U.S. finally reach a turning point.

Third, the epidemic must be completely separated from politics. Conflict between America’s two political parties, combined with Washington’s insistence on blaming China for the epidemic, has misled the public and resulted in misplaced efforts by the U.S. government and other countries. The Republicans and Democrats must consider the best way to combat the epidemic, but they have instead been thinking hard about how to enhance their appeal in the upcoming elections. Thinking that way will result in diminished focus on reducing the death toll, and instead, put greater weight on spinning the tragic loss of lives.

All of American society needs to work together to achieve one goal. One hundred thousand deaths are absolutely unacceptable, and every effort must be made to prevent that from happening. Only when people reach a consensus about this will they truly be able to take collaborative action.

To this end, the U.S. should also stop its international conflict with China so that conditions are right for China and the U.S. to fight the epidemic together. Aside from the emergency medical supplies that China can send to the United States, the two countries can also effectively cooperate in developing a vaccine. China has already reached the clinical trial stage of vaccine development.

This epidemic has clearly demonstrated that the greatest threat to the U.S. is no longer geopolitical but comes from the natural world, and it is the same for all of humanity. Considering this reality will certainly influence the restructuring of the world order when the epidemic is over. By seeking the truth and not ignoring facts, the U.S. will certainly be able to use its power well and win a decisive victory in the battle to subdue the virus.

*Editor’s note: The World Health Organization declared the outbreak of COVID-19 to be a pandemic on March 11.