Trump Falsely Tells People that Warm Weather Can Defeat the Coronavirus

Just to be clear: there is zero reason to believe that the coronavirus will weaken in warmer weather—and trying to make people believe there is could cost uncountable lives.

“It would be reckless to assume that things will quiet down in spring and summer,” said Dr. Peter Hotez,dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas.

“We don’t really understand the basis of seasonality, and of course we know we absolutely nothing about this particular virus,” Hotez said. …

“It’s a respiratory virus, and we know respiratory viruses are very seasonal, but not exclusively. One would hope that the gradual spring will help this virus recede. We can’t be sure of that,” added Schaffner, a longtime adviser to the CDC.

So, what’s the harm in “hoping”?

Let’s be clear: disinformation about anything is bad, coming from a president. Disinformation about public hazards (like insisting that a hurricane will be striking Alabama) can be dangerous and can kill people. Disinformation about science can erode public trust in scientific accuracy, make people believe that no special actions are necessary, and cause many more deaths.

If people believe that all they have to do is wait for Spring (and, hey, Global Warming will help us, right?) and the coronavirus will wither and die all on its own, then we are risking a horrific death toll if Trump is taken seriously and there is less support for preventing a pandemic.

To be succinct: Trump is playing with millions of lives here. And it was completely meaningless of him to say that. Had he consulted with doctors instead of just Xi before making that pronouncement, then he would have known better. However, Trump has shown a penchant for trusting foreign dictators more than his own people, and apparently has not the slightest clue that Xi has every economic reason to lie to Trump about that—China is hit hard by just the fear of a pandemic, and they want to calm those fears down, even if it means a staggering death toll.

And Trump was just Xi’s unwitting fool in helping China at the possible cost of millions dying.