To the editor:

In response to “The blame game is on” published April 24th, yes the president is to blame, he’s supposed to be the leader of this country. You omitted all of the facts in your editorial. On January 1st WHO began investigating COVID- 19. On Jan. 23, The WHO Director- General convened an Emergency Committee (EC) to assess whether the outbreak constituted a public health emergency of international concern. The independent members from around the world could not reach a consensus based on the evidence available at the time. March 11th, deeply concerned by the alarming levels of spread, severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction, WHO made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic.

Joe Biden said: “This is no time for Donald Trump’s record of hysteria xenophobia, hysterical xenophobia, and fear-mongering to lead the way instead of science.”

Democrats on the campaign trail were speaking of the virus. January and February were spent with President Trump calling it a hoax, stating, “it’s like the flu and will go away in the summer. Nothing to worry about.” He continues to downplay this pandemic and not trusting the scientists.

Feb. 24th Nancy Pelosi visited Chinatown to support that area and not promote racism as promoted by Trump calling it the “china flu”.

The warnings of a pandemic were included in the daily briefings during Jan. & Feb. There is a 69-page playbook basically, pandemic for dummies, in the White House, Politico has also included the playbook on their website. The president dismantled the Pandemic Department in 2018. He allowed the ventilator maintenance contracts to expire in 2018 and the stockpile of ventilators were not in working order when they were urgently needed.

The enrollment date for the Affordable Care Act ended on March 31st and the president has refused to extend enrollment in the middle of a pandemic. Many states have participated in a lawsuit to end the Affordable Care Act along with protection for pre-existing conditions. In addition, the majority of clean air acts have been revoked by the president. Poor air quality exacerbates Covid 19 health issues.

Jan. 27, 2020 in USA Today, Joe Biden warned of the pandemic. You are correct, the voters will decide in November that Trump is to blame and that Joe Biden will lead the effort to control this virus.

Cindy Wagner

Callender