Important Numbers

Donald Trump has repeatedly bragged that the United States with him as President has been the world leader in battling the coronavirus. For instance, he has said "the United States has produced dramatically better health outcomes than any other country, with the possible exception of Germany" (source here).

That is a massive lie.

Consider the following: The first coronavirus case appeared in the United States and in South Korea on the same day — January 20, 2020.

To date, South Korea's per-capita infection rate is 211 per million. That means out of a million people, 211 have contracted coronavirus.

In contrast, to date, the US's per-capita infection rate is 3,583 per million. That comes out to an per capita infection rate seventeen times higher than South Korea, or around 1700 percent.

To date, South Korea's per-capita death rate is 5 per million. The per-capita death rate in the United States, however, is 207 per million. That works out to be a death rate per capita more than forty times higher than South Korea's, or some 41400 percent.

This comparison provides a graphic summary of how Trump's "management" of the coronavirus crisis has been a spectacular failure. The United States is not one of the best in the world, as he claims, but actually one of the worst.

South Korea had a pandemic strike force available near instantly. Trump dismantled America's pandemic early warning system. South Korea swung into action immediately with massive testing programs. Trump refused a workable testing scheme and pushed a disastrous one that took more than a month to come on line. Quarantines and shelter-in-place mandates were quickly established in South Korea within days. Trump did almost nothing for nearly two months before declaring an emergency. The South Korean government briefed its citizenry fully and honestly every day and multiple times a day. Trump lied repeatedly on a daily basis and spun out absurd promises.

The source for all the stats above is here.