That We Know Of

President Trump has not been tested for coronavirus, White House press secretary says:

"He has neither had prolonged close contact with any known confirmed COVID-19 patients, nor does he have any symptoms." pic.twitter.com/zzAOhPZWLq

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 10, 2020

At this point, Trump has been in contact with numerous people who were at CPAC and came into contact with the infected individual from New Jersey, including Mick Mulvaney, Mark Meadows and Matt Gaetz. So I really wonder about this odd "prolonged close contact" verbal configuration--when it's the president, why wouldn't you just test to get it out of the way? Test all of these people who were in contact at CPAC and at AIPAC. It just makes sense, after all--if you want to demonstrate the virus isn't as catchy as all that, display results, or at least let people (who obviously have lives they would like to get along with) know whether their self-sequestering is necessary or not.

Is it really that Trump hasn't had prolonged exposure to an infected person, or is it just: not that we know of? Wouldn't a person like Trump have some curiosity about that?

It's a deeply peculiar choice, but then, the decisions made so far about who gets tested and when have been fairly bone-headed. It's really as if, for some reason, a highly individual aversion to bad news was being catered to by people who should understand that facts don't care about the feelings of individuals, even if they do work in the Oval Office. This kind of bullshit is tactically wrong, devastating as policy, and strategically a nightmare for actually addressing the very real problem of an outbreak, the size of which isn't being ascertained because the necessary investigation isn't being done.

In the real world, disruptions to regular business are already very much occurring as events and classes and other occasions of human pooling are being suspended. When events like concerts and conventions are disrupted, entrepreneurs and contractors lose money. The 2000+ point drop in the Dow wasn't about a hoax. It was about a real impact the economy is experiencing from the virus and the lack of faith investors have that the leadership exists to address it. Trump has met with business leaders--but it really would have been swell if he gave more of an ear to the scientists.

And why does the testing still seem to be so regulated? Again, the broadest cast would reveal the best picture of where people are being infected, who is vulnerable, where closures and quarantines need to be in effect. Catching the disease early might even improve outcomes, especially for patients who have compromised health for whatever reason.

Trump seems like he would prefer not to know, and thinks that means everyone else should prefer not to know. But now knowing is bullshit, and he is a fool and a coward if he thinks that is the right call