We should especially make sure any restrictions imposed are indeed temporary and adhere to the science — something we don’t always do. So far, President Trump has offered a measured response to the virus. (It is not, as you might have read on Twitter, “thermonuclear pandemic level bad.”) So are racist memes blaming Chinese people and Chinese culture for the virus. After the Obama administration scrambled to bring home two American health workers who had become infected with the disease in Liberia, Trump went on a monthslong Twitter tirade about Ebola. Today, Trump runs an administration that is hemorrhaging scientific expertise, and his political agenda is rife with efforts to target immigrants, minorities and the poor.

Source: New York Times January 29, 2020 21:00 UTC