The coronavirus is steadily becoming an increasing concern all over the world, with a number of affected countries seeing a spike in both cases and deaths. Recently, while hosting the President of Colombia, President Donald Trump told reporters that scientists are already working towards a vaccine.
The New York Post reports that Trump assured the public from the Oval Office that scientists are already in the midst of developing a vaccine. This statement comes before Trump is set to meet with pharmaceutical companies. The rising number of cases in the United States has sent the stock market into a panic, and members from both parties have criticized his response to the growing pandemic during a press conference the previous week. “We’re talking about a vaccine, maybe a cure, it’s possible, we’ll see about that. We’ve asked them to accelerate whatever they’re doing in terms of a vaccine,” said Trump, while hosting Colombian President Ivan Duque Marquez.
Because Trump is also in the midst of his reelection campaign with the elections taking place in November, he also touched on whether or not this would affect his upcoming rally in North Carolina. Trump assured that the situation is still very safe, and even mentioned that the Democrat candidates are still continuing with their respective rallies. “You could ask that to the Democrats…They’re all having rallies, that’s what they’re doing, they’re campaigning. I think it’s very safe.”
The first two fatalities were reported in the United States over the weekend prior to Trump’s assurance. Experts have also warned that more cases may pop up, and as of now, there are almost 90 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the country.
Previously, the Trump administration was under fire for planning to place entry restrictions on the border, separating the U.S. and Mexico. This was proposed in order to contain the virus and prevent the disease from spreading. This drew criticism from many people on social media, who pointed out that despite there being confirmed cases in Canada, there have been no entry restrictions made in the Northern border separating the two nations. One commenter pointed out that Canada has 16 cases of the coronavirus compared to Mexico, which only has two.