Why the U.S. is "No. 1" in eight aspects of COVID-19 response

BEIJING, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- A research report exposing the truth about America's fight against COVID-19 was made public on Monday by three think tanks in Beijing.

According to the report titled "'America Ranked First'?! The Truth about America's Fight against COVID-19," the United States is well deserved to be the world's No. 1 anti-pandemic failure, the world's No. 1 political-blaming country, the world's No. 1 pandemic spreader, the world's No. 1 politically-divisive country, the world's No. 1 currency-abusing country, the world's No. 1 turbulent country during the pandemic, the world's No. 1 disinforming country, and the world's No. 1 country advocating origin tracing terrorism.

The report was jointly released by the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies of the Renmin University of China, the Taihe Institute and the Intellisia Institute.

The following are some key points from the report.

FOR PARTISAN COMPETITIONS, NOT FOR THE LIVES

As of Aug. 7, 2021, the United States had reported 35,530,951 cumulative confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 613,658 deaths. In terms of both numbers, the United States ranks first in the world.

Behind the cold numbers lies the domestic politics of the United States -- particularly the highly politicized partisanship, which has claimed the lives of many Americans "who need not have died."

"It's a slaughter," said William Foege, an American epidemiologist.

ANTI-SCIENCE AND AGAINST COMMON SENSE

The U.S. government's efforts in pandemic prevention and control, policy measures, and virus source investigation ran contrary to science and common sense, and are the direct reasons why the United States is a "failed country in fighting the pandemic."

Serious violation of common scientific knowledge: The U.S. government spread false information on anti-intellectualism through various channels such as the White House press conference, mass media, and social media.

Covering up the truth: The first COVID-19 case in the United States was officially reported on January 21, 2020. However, increasing evidence suggests that the actual emergence of an outbreak in the country happened much earlier.

Presumption of guilt involving virus origin tracing: The U.S. government repeatedly encouraged its allies and hijacked the World Health Organization to hype the so-called "evidence" and "convict" China. According to a U.S. media report, senior White House officials pressured the intelligence community to link the COVID-19 virus to the Wuhan virology institute.

Suppression of scientists: To advance political goals on the pretext of the pandemic, the U.S. government has suppressed scientists and throttled professional opinions. Scientists who denied the "lab leak theory" have been subjected to online harassment. This has not only affected their normal work but also jeopardized their personal safety.

SYSTEM FAILURES RESULT IN UNMANAGEABLE PANDEMIC

"Disunited America" pattern of response to the pandemic: The federal system in the United States, plagued by excuse-making partisanship, led to a "disunited" response to the pandemic.

Power checks and balances become power games: During the pandemic, the horizontal separation of power evolved from a check and balance of power to a game of power under the manipulation of partisan disputes. The United States has so far had confusing data on the pandemic. On the one hand, it has not been treating confirmed cases with full capacity in a timely manner. On the other hand, it has wasted a lot of valuable medical resources due to the lack of unified and effective coordination.

Everything for the capital: Save the stock market but not the people. The Federal Reserve took "extraordinary" measures to increase money supply. In fact, the United States in a year and a half printed nearly half of all the dollars for more than 200 years. Countries around the world had to bear the burden of inflation, instability, and "bubble" pressures that they should not have suffered.

EXACERBATED SOCIAL GAP

Steep rise in unemployment and worsening disparity between the rich and the poor: The COVID-19 pandemic has seen U.S. business closures and waves of unemployment occurring faster and on a larger scale than expected. The lower class and other vulnerable groups are facing higher risks of unemployment. The gap between rich and poor further widened as wealth flowed into the hands of a few more quickly.

Intensification of racial conflicts: The conspiracy about the origins of COVID-19 has fueled bullying and hatred toward Asians. Asian-American discrimination cases nearly doubled in March 2021 alone.

Social unrest: Social unrest is a "chronic disease" in the United States. Sadly, the pandemic is acting as an "amplifier" to further exacerbate social tensions. This year, the U.S. topped the list of crime rates in developed countries, much higher than countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, and Spain, as well as many developing countries. Social unrest manifests itself in three main ways: guns out of control, hate crimes and political chaos.

The general public has a sense of anxiety and powerlessness: A report titled "Historic Shift in Americans' Happiness Amid Pandemic" by the National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago, released in June 2020, shows that Americans are at their lowest level of happiness ever.

WILLFUL DESTRUCTION OF GLOBAL PANDEMIC RESISTANCE

Letting the virus be exported to act as a "spreader country": In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, more than 20 million U.S. citizens were still traveling abroad. The United States has continued to export the virus outside its borders, making it a veritable "proliferator." The country has an inescapable responsibility for the spread of infections globally.

Rejection of international vaccine cooperation: In the early stages of promoting COVID-19 vaccination, the United States engaged in "vaccine nationalism" and created an "immunization divide," politicizing vaccine cooperation and impeding global cooperation on vaccines, treatment, and joint prevention and control. Such actions made it difficult for poor countries to obtain vaccines, leading to an imbalance in the global vaccine supply.

Duke University's Center for Global Health Innovation estimates that by the summer of 2021, the United States may have a surplus of 300 million or more doses of COVID-19 vaccine. The Wall Street Journal reported on May 17 that the United States had exported only 3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, less than one percent of its vaccine production.

Weaponizing the pandemic by blaming other countries: The United States has turned a global public health disaster into a major power tussle by politicizing scientific issues such as the anti-pandemic model, the origin tracing of the pandemic, and the effectiveness of the vaccine, shifting the blame to the outside world and misleading the international community.

The terrorism of tracing the origin of the virus: A "virus" even deadlier than the COVID-19 is the growing "retroactive terrorism" led by the United States. Washington has strongly promoted the so-called virus tracing in other countries, coercing the World Health Organization and some scientists to give up their objective and impartial positions in an attempt to make them bow down in front of hegemony and bullying.