PHOTO: Trump courts catastrophe

President Trump’s plan to dismantle prematurely the nation’s social-distancing pandemic policies to accelerate economic recovery is a grave threat to the nation.

Epidemiological experts completely reject this approach because the pandemic would likely come roaring back with new surges in sickness and death.

Bill Gates has argued more succinctly that there is no middle ground; you can’t tell people to flout social-distancing and ignore the bodies “piling up.”

The reason for the resurgence is that up to 95 percent of the U.S. population would still have no immunity against the COVID-19 disease until a vaccine might be available in 12-18 months.

Furthermore, economists at Stanford, MIT and elsewhere argue that economic recovery itself could take 12-18 months due to continuing economic disruption and uncertainty.

Therefore, Trump’s irrational proposal will only worsen the pandemic and adversely affect economic recovery.

It is all cost and no benefit.

It could wipe out the pandemic mitigation gains we have made, prolong economic recovery, and decimate an already over-capacity healthcare system.

Governor Cuomo has it exactly right.

Pandemic mitigation measures can be gradually modified to improve social and economic conditions, but it must be done very cautiously to avoid a catastrophic pandemic resurgence.

It was bad enough that Trump allowed the pandemic to get a head start at severe economic and human cost to the nation.

His attack on U.S. pandemic mitigation policies over the next month or so could cost millions of American lives.

Malcolm McPhee

Sequim