As the Coronavirus sweeps across the global landscape, media coverage swells and strengthens at an equally alarming speed.
Career epidemiologists and public health experts have rarely enjoyed so much air time, appearing on TV News broadcasts to offer fact-based warnings and guidelines.
But among those sober experts is the Trump administration's coronavirus A-Team, the chosen front line to coordinate a response and ease public tensions. Simply put, it's been a rocky start for the crew.
The United States now faces a total of 564 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 and 22 deaths. As both those figures continue to rise, the nation has spent the last week demanding a clear and coordinated response from the Executive Branch.
Thus far, this has taken the form of daily press briefings from Vice President Mike Pence and characteristically knee-jerk comments from President Donald Trump. Often, both statements directly contradict one another, and confusion has abounded as a result.
Yet another head-scratching moment came when a new Trump-appointed voice offered vague assurance that there is little to worry about. U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams appeared on CNN's "State of the Union" to take questions from Jake Tapper, the program's host.
During the interview, Adams did not hesitate to throw himself under the bus as he assured the nation Trump's health was immaculate and nothing to worry about.
It was a moment of strange irony—it's not often the surgeon general boasts about his own poor health:
"Speaking of being at risk...The president, he sleeps less than I do and he's healthier than what I am."
With his response, the Surgeon General was clearly aiming to quell fears that 73-year-old Donald Trump is situated right in the "older adult' range, placing him at the highest risk of serious illness from COVID-19, according to an array of health experts including the CDC.
As the clip made its way to the interwebs, the Surgeon General's assurance fell on the skeptical ears and shrewd mouths of Twitter.
Many had some of their own, biting diagnoses about Adams' reference to Trump's ability to burn the candle at both ends.
Twitter's conclusions could identify no healthy approach to the President's minimal sleep.
President Donald Trump himself, however, felt the interview went well.
He retweeted the clip, drawing a whole new layer of confusion.
As the coronavirus continues to spread across the U.S. and the entire world, the media landscape will grow chaotic and full of assurances, advice, and hysteria in turn. It becomes clearer and clearer that people will trust some sources more than others.
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The Philadelphia Enquirer
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