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Summary
- President Trump who recently got diagnosed with the coronavirus infection, has return to the white House despite being advised to be in isolation and follow the general guidelines.
- The president is not following the guidelines and is posing for supporters after removing his protective mask.
- Several of his staff have also tested positive for the virus, latest being the press secretary Kayleigh McEnany.
At the backdrop of Covid-19 pandemic and rising tension between the US and China, the US presidential election in the year 2020 is not the usual one. However, the problems have not deterred President Trump. Despite diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus and recently discharged from hospital, he has started focusing on his campaign. He is determined to turn his weakness into strength and is trying his best to participate in the presidential campaign.
Trump being casual on Covid-19 guidelines
The US President, Donald Trump, who was recently diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus and is still contagious, has returned to the White House after a three-night hospital stay. Ever since the news of him being infected with the coronavirus has surfaced, the world can see the casual attitude of Mr President towards wearing the mask and remaining in isolation. It seems he is more concerned about participating in the election campaign than maintaining the COVID-19 guidelines and is not ready to be sidelined due to the infection. He removes his mask while posing for pictures. In recent days, several of his staff have also tested positive for the virus. The latest being the press secretary Kayleigh McEnany being infected with the virus.
Also read: Both Donald And Melania Trump Tested Positive For Coronavirus
Questions are being raised over the seriousness of Mr Trump's illness. Even while he was in the hospital, he kept coming in and out of the hospital. After two days of being hospitalised with the infection, he left the hospital briefly to salute supporters from his motorcade. Hours earlier, Trump's medical team stated that his blood oxygen level sank abruptly twice in recent days, and they gave him a steroid usually recommended for the very sick patients.
He is also making tall promises before the elections. The US Centers for Disease Control has maintained no vaccine is expected to be widely available before the middle of the year 2021. However, Trump is promising that vaccines can be out at any moment.
Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden has maintained that he was glad to see the president is making good progress. However, he has also criticised Trump by saying it is not sending the right message as Trump is disregarding the essential precautions to contain the virus.
Interesting Read: Clean Sweep for Biden anticipated, how is Wall Street placed?
2020 - A challenging year for election
US President Donald Trump and Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden Apart are contending for election in the year 2020 which has been full of challenges. Apart from the Coronavirus pandemic that has led to loss of lives and increasing unemployment, the nation has also witnessed civil unrest or riots.
Loss of Lives and Economic Turmoil due to pandemic
As updated on 7 October 2020 at 1:34 PM EDT by CDC, there had been 7.5 million confirmed cases and 211K deaths in the United States. 38,984 new cases were reported in last one day with 672 new deaths. In the last seven days, 307,191 new cases were recorded. The enormous uncertainty and devastation caused by the relentless novel coronavirus has put the one of the world’s leading economy on its knees. Add to that, the US-China tension.
Related Read: Fed’s new strategy for inflation and labour market
Countrywide protest and riots over the death of African-American Mr George Floyd
The US witnessed a countrywide protest and riots over the death of African-American Mr George Floyd in the police custody. The incident led to violent protests in Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, and L.A. Local protesters ransacked shops in several cities and set police vehicles on fire. After the repercussion to the assassination of Martin Luther King in 1968, the country saw the most widespread racial turbulence and civil unrest on the death of African-American Mr George Floyd.
Increasing unemployment
Unemployment increased across the world due to massive layoffs by companies in order to manage expenses during the pandemic time. The US had been no exception. Several industries including tourism, hospitality, wineries, transportation and many more have experienced severe business loss with many shutting their doors for indefinite period. The initial shock was huge when in March job losses occurred at a rate never seen since the Great Depression. The weekly unemployment insurance claims from 282,000 in the week ending 14 March 2020, spiked to 6.9 million in two weeks.
However, as per the US Bureau of Labor Statistics report on unemployment released on 2 October 2020, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 661,000, and the unemployment rate decreased to 7.9% in the US for September 2020
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