Coronavirus worse for US than Pearl Harbour, 9/11: Trump

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump renewed his criticism of China over the global coronavirus pandemic and said it has been worse for the United States than Pearl Harbour and 9/11.

Trump said the fallout from the pandemic has hit the United States harder than the December 7, 1941, Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbour or the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

“This is really the worst attack we’ve ever had,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “This is worse than Pearl Harbor. This is worse than the World Trade Center.”

The surprise Japanese attack on the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii drew the United States into World War II. The 9/11 attacks killed about 3,000 people, triggering two decades of US wars and anti-terrorism operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries.

Trump lashed out at China, continuing a war of words over the origins of the deadly virus that emerged in Wuhan last year. “It should have never happened,” he said. “Could have been stopped at the source. Could have been stopped in China.”

China hit back at US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over his claims the virus originated in a Wuhan laboratory, saying he has no evidence. “This matter should be handed to scientists and medical professionals, and not politicians who lie for their own domestic political ends,” China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman said.

More than 73,000 Americans have died of COVID-19, and the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicted the toll in the US could top 100,000 by the end of May. The pandemic has killed more than 260,000 people globally and officially infected nearly 3.7 million.

Europe accounts for the lion’s share of deaths and infections, though hardest hit Britain, Italy, Spain and France have seen a levelling off of new cases and fatalities.

Germany has unveiled plans for a return to normality including a May 15 as the European Union forecast a historic recession on the continent. Germany will allow all students back to school this month, shops to resume business and even restart the Bundesliga although without spectators.

In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said some lockdown measures could be scaled back from next week, though he warned against moving too briskly. “It would be an economic disaster for this country if we were to pursue a relaxation of these measures now in such a way as to trigger a second spike,” said Johnson, who was himself treated in hospital for the virus.

Britain overtook Italy for the highest number of deaths in Europe, and is now second after the US in terms of fatalities. France is inching towards a May 11 deadline to allow some schools to open again after almost two months, while Spanish lawmakers extended a state of emergency keeping lockdown measures in place for at least two more weeks.

Trump, who is eager to get the world’s biggest economy restarted as he seeks re-election in November, said reopening was a priority. He also backpedaled on scrapping his coronavirus task force after Vice President Mike Pence suggested it could be done away with by early June.