President Donald Trump has placed Vice President Mike Pence in charge of the United States’ response to the Coronavirus. As of March 1 there have been two confirmed deaths due to the Coronavirus, both occurring within Washington State. The virus remains asymptomatic for the first two weeks of infection which not only makes it easier for the virus to spread from person to person, but to potentially travel long distances undetected.
During Pence’s tenure as Governor of Indiana, the state faced the worst HIV outbreak in its history. HIV swept through Scott county, Indiana due to the prevalence of intravenous drug use. Prior to the outbreak, Pence defunded the only HIV testing center within Scott County as well as stating that he was morally against the concept of needle exchanges, stating that he believed they promoted drug use, which health experts stated is factually untrue.
Based on Pence’s prior experiences with health epidemics, he is completely unqualified to head the nation’s response to the Coronavirus. Pence has stated previously that he does not believe in evolution, an important concept when it comes to understanding and dealing with a deadly virus. If Pence does not take expert advice, and instead tries to deal with this potential crisis like how he dealt with the HIV crisis in Indiana, the United States is in for a long and tumultuous battle with the Coronavirus.
by Hayden Graves
