How the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Revealed the Lie of American Exceptionalism
As the coronavirus outbreak in the United States dragged on over the summer, my fear and anxiety about the virus evolved into frustration—especially as I watched other, similar countries mount a far more effective response. By August, it seemed like life was returning mostly to normal for friends and colleagues elsewhere in the world, while we were stuck in a deadly game of whack-a-mole as the virus receded in one state only to emerge in another. As I write this, the U.S. has over 6.3 million cases—more than any other country—and is closing in on 200,000 deaths; it will almost certainly be the first country to cross that grim milestone.
So a few weeks back, I set off to figure out why, exactly, the U.S. was doing so badly compared to what are traditionally thought of as our peer nations. The answer, experts told me, is threefold: failed political leadership at almost every level; a distrust of science, the media and expertise in general; and a unique willingness to accept needless mass death as a fact of everyday life.
Illustration by John Mavroudis for TIME
The story that resulted—a joint effort with my colleague Elijah Wolfson—is, I hope, more than a condemnation of our failings as a country thus far. It's a roadmap for recovery—we cannot, after all, reverse course if we're not honest about the wrong turns we've already made. Despite how grim things may seem as we head into the fall and winter, where yet another spike may await us, there's still time to get this right.
More than 27.8 million people around the world had been sickened by COVID-19 as of 1 a.m. EDT today, and more than 903,000 people have died. Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
On Sept. 9, there were nearly 293,000 new cases and more than 6,300 new deaths confirmed globally. Here's how the world as a whole is currently trending:
Here is every country with over 350,000 confirmed cases to date ("per cap" is number per 100,000 people):
India now is confirming the most daily cases of COVID-19 in the world, by far. The country reported 95,735 new cases yesterday, shattering the previous daily record, 90,802, which it set on Sept. 6. The U.S. is the country that has come closest to these daily numbers; on July 16, it reported 77,255 new cases. However, other countries have reported far more all-time cases per capita, including Qatar, Bahrain, and Panama.
As Indonesia passed 200,000 total cases, its capital city of Jakarta has reinstated certain restrictions, including a ban on large gatherings and restrictions for houses of worship. The city’s hospitals are approaching capacity, according to the New York Times. Jakarta’s governor, Anies Baswedan, said that the city needs to “pull the emergency brake.”
Other places in Asia seem to have made strides towards containing the virus. Tokyo’s leadership said today that the country is lowering its COVID-19 alert level from red (the highest) to orange, the second-highest level, according to the AP. In South Korea, the number of new daily cases was below 200 for the eighth day in a row—a sign that social distancing measures may be working.
The globe must invest more to fight the pandemic, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said today, according to Reuters. “We need to rapidly scale up our clinical trials, manufacturing, licensing and regulation capacity so that these products can get to people and start saving lives,” he said.
The Situation in the U.S.
The U.S. had recorded more than 6.3 million coronavirus cases as of 1 a.m. EDT today. Nearly 191,000 have died. Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
On Sept. 9, there were more than 34,000 new cases and 1,206 new deaths confirmed in the U.S. Here's how the country as a whole is currently trending:
Many American families are currently facing a financial crisis. Almost half of U.S. households (46%) reported experiencing “serious financial problems” during the coronavirus outbreak, according to a new poll undertaken by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. More than half (54%) of households with incomes less than $100,000 reported such difficulties, versus only 20% of those with incomes higher than $100,000, according to NPR. Meanwhile, the improvements to the job market seen in recent weeks appear to be levelling off. During the week ending Sept. 5, there were 884,000 new unemployment claims, the same as the previous week, the Department of Labor reported today.
Many Americans are worried that political pressure could cause the Food and Drug Administration to push through a vaccine before it’s known to be safe and effective. According to a poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation released today, 62% of Americans polled said this was a concern, including 85% of those identifying as Democrats and 61% of independents. About 38% of total respondents said that “the worst is yet to come” during the pandemic, although an equal number said that “the worst is behind us.”
President Donald Trump reportedly acknowledged that he wanted to minimize the threat posed by COVID-19 to prevent “a panic,” during a conversation back in February with journalist Bob Woodward. At the time, President Trump’s public statements did not align with what he said in private. Speaking to Woodward, he reportedly said COVID-19 was “more deadly than even your strenuous flus”; in public statements, however, he said the novel coronavirus was under control and no different than a seasonal flu.
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of September 10, 1 a.m. eastern time. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
BIPOC Entrepreneurs Are Under Strain, But Giving Back
Many U.S. business owners who are Black, Indigenous and people of color have struggled financially throughout the pandemic, while encountering difficulties acquiring government aid. But as TIME’s Cady Lang writes, some of these businesses have still found new ways to give back to their communities. Read more here.
Hospitals Failed to Isolate Coronavirus Patients
Patients sick with COVID-19 have been mixed with other patients at hospitals and nursing homes, sometimes enabling it to spread and imperiling healthcare workers, an investigation by Kaiser Health News has found. Read more here.
College Is Back, But Not Back to Normal
U.S. colleges are adjusting to the COVID-19 outbreak in different ways, with 19% of schools opening for in-person classes, 27% primarily online, and 16% a mix. But as TIME’s Katie Reilly reports, all students are in for a very unusual semester. Read more here.
Why We Still Need COVID-19 Models
More than six months into the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., models that predict where the virus is headed still face challenges like political indifference and data collection obstacles. But they can still be useful for decision makers, FiveThirtyEight reports. Read more here.
—Tara Law
Thanks for reading. We hope you find the Coronavirus Brief newsletter to be a helpful tool to navigate this very complex situation, and welcome feedback at coronavirus.brief@time.com.
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Today's newsletter was written by Alex Fitzpatrick and Tara Law. It was edited by Elijah Wolfson.
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