COVID-19 has been described in many different ways including deadly, insidious, a tragedy and a worldwide Pandemic it is normally referred to in a negative context, however actress and activist Jane Fonda sees the virus in a positive light referring to it ‘as God’s gift.’
‘I just think COVID is God’s gift to the left’ said Fonda laughing as she said it. ‘That’s a terrible thing to say, I think it was a very difficult thing to send down to us, but it has ripped the Band-aid off who he (Trump) is and what he stands for and what is being done to average people and working people in this country.’ Fondas alliance with the Democratic Party is strong and she is outspoken in regards to her support for Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden. The Coronavirus that has killed over 210,000 Americans for her stands for a wake up call sent by a diligent and benevolent deity to help drive the Democratic Party to success.
TRUMP’S CORONAVIRUS INFECTION .. A DIVINE INTERVENTION?
In the meantime Donald Trump believes that he was ‘blessed by God’ by being infected by the Coronavirus. Trump’s timely recovery from the potentially deadly virus seems astounding and he touts it as being due to his access to treatments that are still deemed ‘experimental’. Trump received an 8-gram dose of the polyclonal antibody cocktail, REGN -COV2 which was released to him under special circumstances under ‘compassionate use’ this allows medication to be made available to people outside of clinical trials. Last week the pharmaceutical Company that produces the treatment Regeneron, released details showing the cocktail reduces the amount of virus in the body in addition to decreasing the amount of recovery time in patients. The President is currently only one of a very few people outside of trials to be granted special use of this treatment. Trump however now wants what he is referring to as more like a ‘cure’ than a therapeutic treatment to be released to all those in need. ‘We have hundreds of thousands of doses that are just about ready.’ He said. ‘I have emergency use authorization all set and we got to get it signed now. And you’re going to get better, you’re going to get better really fast.’ Trump also announced that he intends to ensure that these treatments are supplied free of charge for patients suffering from the disease. ‘If you’re in the hospital and you’re feeling really bad. I think we’re going to work it so that you get them and you get them free.’ he promised. Trump also received a 5 day dosage cycle of the antiviral Remdesivir which has been used in limited amounts as a therapeutic since March. It was originally developed to treat hepatitis C and was also used to combat Ebola. Remdesiver is said in some cases to reduce the recovery time of patients suffering from Coronavirus. It functions by knocking out a specific piece of machinery in the virus, known as ‘RNA polymerase’ which many viruses use in their replication. Trump also received Dexamethasone when his oxygen levels dropped twice in the initial stages of contraction of the virus. Dexamethasone has been widely used to help to reduce the number of deaths in patients on mechanical ventilation by one-third.
MEDICAL ARSENAL IS NEEDED TO DEFEAT THE CORONAVIRUS
So much is still unsure about the Coronavirus and the immune system response in fighting it so it is unproven if any of these drugs worked to bring the President back to a state of health in which he says he feels ‘the best in 20 years’. It could be just the use of one of these treatments that has so far stopped him from succumbing to the potentially debilitating symptoms the Coronavirus can unleash. There is no way of unilaterally demonstrating which or any of these drugs have allegedly restored the President’s health and annihilated the symptoms he was suffering before and on his arrival to the Walter Reed Medical Centre. However, if Trump’s run in with COVID-19 can now make these potentially life saving drugs available to the general public that could be viewed as a blessing from God by some. COVID-19 needs to be fought with all the arsenal we have medically available to halt the death rate and the long term symptoms that many endure. If people that test positive can freely access the same medical options that the President could, perhaps the lessening of symptoms and increase in recovery for some can also be viewed as a ‘a gift from God.’
INTERPRETATION OF ‘GOD’S BLESSING’ IN REGARDS TO COVID-19 DEPENDS ON WHICH SIDE YOU STAND FOR AND HOW MUCH YOU HAVE SUFFERED.
New treatments that could combat the Coronavirus death toll will be of little consolation to those who have already lost loved ones through the Pandemic. Trump’s diagnosis of the virus and his recovery perhaps induced by the use of these new drugs could possibly manifest into the blessing of saving thousands of lives and help to conquer a virus that has touched everyone’s existence to a certain degree. Treatments previously available only to a President ‘with special permission’ if made available to all in need has the potential to turn the tide of the virus if not totally at least to potentially tame it until a better solution becomes available. For people like Fonda who see the virus as an ‘existential crossroads’ as she described it to encourage issues such as climate change the blessing she sees is in the change of power in the United States that the negative effects of the virus could push through. ‘What a great gift, what a tremendous opportunity, we are so lucky, we have to use it with every ounce of intelligence and courage and wherewithal we have.’ she said. Her description of the use of the virus as a weapon to defeat the Republican Party could also be used as Trump’s description of distributing the drugs he has used in his recovery out to the masses in need. Only time will interpret ‘the gift and blessings’ that Coronavirus has bestowed on the world. For the Democratic Party the answer to their prayers and the role that Coronavirus has played in the outcome will not be known until after November 3rd. The Pandemic for the majority is no gift and no blessing; it has disrupted lives and killed over a million people. It is hard to see any gift or blessing in any light or for any reason to justify the extent of its destruction.