For weeks, the Trump administration has tried to dispel panic and bolster confidence in its handling of the coronavirus. But its words and actions seem to be having the opposite effect.
Asked how the administration’s “coronavirus task force” will deal with the 3,500 quarantined passengers of the Grand Princess cruise ship, which is supposed to dock in Oakland, California, on Monday, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson assured ABC’s This Week that the task force, of which he is a member, has a “plan.”
What that plan entails, however, Carson couldn’t say.
“The plan will be in place by that time,” Carson said, admitting that it “hasn’t been fully formulated.” When pressed for details, Carson told ABC News that he does not “want to preview the plan right now.”
Pressed on plans to handle 3,500 people on board the Grand Princess Cruise ship where 21 passengers tested positive for COVID-19, Sec. Carson tells @GStephanopoulos he doesn’t “want to preview the plan right now.” https://t.co/sk3xGytf04 pic.twitter.com/ryko0w52ml
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 8, 2020
Carson’s response, like much of the Trump administration’s reaction to this virus, is inadequate. What the public needs right now is reassurance — reassurance that their government is working to contain and prepare and provide if its worst-case scenario becomes a reality. This will require transparency, yet we know very little about President Trump’s plan besides that Vice President Mike Pence is in charge, and Congress passed a $3.8 million funding package.
A coherent federal response also requires realistic expectations, but Trump’s team is more interested in minimizing the problem than realistically addressing it. Just last week, media outlets discovered that the White House had overruled health officials who wanted to recommend that elderly and sickly Americans refrain from flying on commercial airlines. This is a fair and wise request, but Trump rejected it to prevent widespread panic.
And now Carson is demanding the public trust that his task force has everything under control, even though there are 3,500 passengers stranded off the coast of California and hundreds more in the United States falling victim to a virus that spreads quickly. The collective faith Carson is asking for would be a lot easier to come by if he were open and honest about the steps the government is taking and the challenges it will undoubtedly face over the next few weeks.
The Trump administration deserves credit for responding quickly to the spread of the coronavirus. But things could get much worse before they get better, and it’s time to admit that.
