President Donald Trump shared a two word recommendation about the ongoing spread of coronavirus on Saturday, “SOCIAL DISTANCING!”
Trump’s comments appeared to reflect the growing recommendation to adopt greater measures for distancing and avoiding social interactions, in order to reduce the potential for person-to-person transmission of the coronavirus.
The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued guidance including social distancing as well as cancelling large scale public events and creating employer-employee plans that would enable employees to work from home.
Trump made his Saturday Facebook post around the same time he announced he would undergo testing after coming in close contact with Brazilian press secretary Fabio Wajngarten last weekend. Wajngarten had been with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro during a visit with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Three days after the visit, Wajngarten began showing symptoms of the coronavirus and later tested positive for the illness. His test results later came back negative, indicating he had not contracted the virus.
U.S. sporting organizations have also taken measures to reduce the potential for large crowds and person-to-person transmission of the virus. Leagues like the NBA, MLB and NHL have also stopped their seasons, at least for the time being, in an effort to prevent the potential spread of the virus at their games. Other sporting organizations, like the PGA, have decided to continue forward with competitive play but have stopped allowing audiences in attendance.
The U.S. Navy has also decided to ban families and guests from attending their boot camp graduations.
Trump also announced a national emergency declaration on Friday to free up approximately $50 billion in emergency funds. Along with that emergency declaration, he has also called to shut down travel to the U.S. from Europe, as a means of barring potential carriers of the disease from entering the country.
The U.S. capacity to carry out testing for the coronavirus has also been a critical factor in identifying and stopping the spread of the disease. During his Friday address, Trump announced efforts to remove federal regulations standing in the way of developing coronavirus test kits and said the FDA had approved an application for a new test kit in a matter of hours. He also announced efforts to expand the number of hospital beds available to take on potential coronavirus patients.
