I think it's shameful how the government has responded to the virus. But...when I have said that to a few friends they shrug it off like it's nothing. But these same friends also fully believe that this virus is no different than the flu and have stated as such. When I point out that it is very different in that it is killing more people the response is "yes but it's only killing people with weak immune systems. So you only have to worry if you have a weak immune system". And in talking to them I hear that they only think about themselves - it's always "I have a strong immune system so I'll be fine". When I mention that they can carry it and give it to others they once again shrug it off. They are only thinking of themselves and, for whatever reason, can't think about how it affects others. And maybe they don't even care about how it will affect others. Which is when I say "we all need to do our part in containing this virus. We can't think about just ourselves anymore - it's about everyone on the planet" and once again these friends just shrug. They don't wash their hands more often, they don't use sanitizer and they are not careful in any way. It's that carelessness that spreads illness like this and when I say that, you guessed it, they just shrug. One friend actually said that 2 weeks of quarantine is overkill and it doesn't need to be that long. Mind you, this friend is NOT a nurse or doctor so it's just her opinion that a week should be enough.

My guess is there is the tiniest fraction of Trump's following who are actually paying attention to ALL the news about this virus and are angry that he is following the dictator's rule book and withholding the true numbers and facts from the people. An ignorant population follows blindly. And I think that the majority of his following wants to stay ignorant and believe him that only 80 people have the virus (I know that's an old stat but for all I know he is still quoting that). My feeling is that most of his base is like my friends and thinking only of themselves and how it will affect them. They do seem to be very focused on "What's in it for me?" and "How will this affect or benefit me?" and the rest of the human population is invisible to them, or their enemy who is out to get them. Which is a victim mindset and makes me sad that so many people are stuck there. It makes me even more sad that most want to STAY in that victim mindset but that's a discussion for another day.

I don't think it's unusual for a President to assign such a big "project" to the VP. Someone has to lead it and for those of us who see the true Trump, we know he can't handle it. I am sure he is majorly triggered by this virus which is one reason why he wants to minimize it - so he can be blissfully ignorant as well.

For me...I take it serious. I do believe it's up to each one of us to do our part to make sure this virus stops spreading. Wash your hands often and use sanitizer if you can find any to buy. If you feel like crap, stay home. If you don't have to travel right now then don't travel. I don't think any of this is an extreme sacrifice to keep all humans safe from this thing.

My mother is a Trump lover and last night she told me that she has faith the government will do what is necessary to stop the virus and keep us all safe. That must be why they are not testing Trump when he has very clearly come in contact with the virus. That's a great way to keep us all safe.

I bet Trump's been tested, but we'll never know those results because he'd never allow anyone to think he is anything but healthy. Justin Trudeau is self-quarantining himself because his wife is sick, but Trump's been around multiple people who are either known to have it or have been exposed to people who are known to have it and yet he's still shaking hands on the south lawn like there's nothing remotely wrong with that. I really had hoped that the GOP would change their tune about this virus once so many of them were exposed to someone who was sick at CPAC but it seems to have had limited effect on them as a whole and it's a shame. People are dying at an alarming rate compared to similar viruses and there are only 3-4 states that don't have at least one confirmed case now. I get how they were trying to play it as a Democratic hoax early on because it seemed to only be showing up in blue states (probably because Dems are more likely to travel abroad than Republicans seeing how they have a broader world view and believe immigration is a good thing as opposed to the GOP being heavily in favor of isolation and walls) so they could act like it isn't real because it wasn't in their backyards, but now it is so sticking your head in the sand on this just seems really stupid, not only for the sake of the individual but for everyone they ever come in contact with.

Also, Trump can't ever admit he's sick if he gets sick because A) the stock market is already volatile and would just be worse if he were to be sick and B) that would be used against him in the general election for sure. The only way we'd know he might be sick is if he makes fewer appearances on the news and miraculously began tweeting less (or making more sense in his tweets like someone took over his account to keep people from thinking something was wrong with him if he were to tweet less).

If I were you, I'd remind those shrugging friends that they have family members and friends who maybe could be more susceptible to this virus and they could be carriers of it - surely no one wants to be responsible for the death of a loved one or dear friend because they just couldn't be bothered to wash their hands more and properly at that. I mean if that doesn't make anyone do more than shrug than they may well be dead inside. I heard someone put it today that the death rate for the elderly with this illness is like 1 in 6, so tell them it's the equivalent of having your grandma or mother play Russian roulette with one bullet in the chamber - would they want her to pull the trigger with those odds, or would they rather she not be forced to play at all? The gun is technically in their hands - it's just a matter of whether they want to wash them or not. Also, they can't possibly know that they don't have an underlying health condition they aren't aware of that could make it worse for them if they contract Covid-19. An underlying heart condition, a kidney problem they aren't aware of yet, undiagnosed diabetes, an undiagnosed autoimmune issue.... they may think they are perfectly healthy but that doesn't mean they are. Are those risks really worth taking? And what for anyway, just to be lazy about handwashing because that saves you an extra 20 seconds? You might want to get some new friends, Lucky... or at least stay away from those people until this passes.

Is anyone ever prepared for anything like this. Instead of blaming our President-blame China. We are getting a dose of what socialism would be like if we were a socialist county.

Actually SageLife, we usually would be prepared for something just like this but Trump decided to let go the very people who were in positions to prepare for something like this. Also, we had a lot of information indicating this was going to happen sooner or later for months if not years in advance that the Trump administration opted to ignore rather than prepare for. Even when there were cases in this country he decided to blatantly lie to the public to try to play it down for the sake of keeping the stock market from going crazy instead of showing any actual leadership by getting in front of this when they still had a little leeway to prepare. It took him too long to get on board with reality and even though he at least acknowledges this is a thing, he still doesn't think it is his responsibility to help states handle the situation, which is anything but what a president should be doing.

This isn't China's fault - a virus like this could come from anywhere and they have. Xenophobia has no place in this world, especially at a time like this. You say we shouldn't blame Trump for his poor response to the virus or his lack of want to help states tackle this pandemic, well blaming another nation for a virus they had no control over is even more ridiculous. It might help you to stop listening to Trump for a bit because this isn't a "Chinese virus" like he wants to claim. He's doing that to deflect from this being his problem as a president to have to handle (and like it or not, as the president he does have to handle this, not just blame it on someone else and put his hands up and say that it's not his fault so he has no responsibility to deal with it).

And not for nothing, but "socialism" is what is going to keep us from going into a depression because without the government stepping in and giving money to individuals and businesses to keep everyone afloat, we'd all wind up bankrupt, jobless, and homeless real fast amid this mess.