Biden Wants a Plan, Trump Wants No More Shutdowns and Thousands More of Wisconsinites Are Going to Die

Data projects over 6,000 Wisconsin deaths by February. 

President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden traded barbs for the last time on Thursday evening in a presidential debate that began with the defining issue of the campaign, the year, and perhaps a generation, displaying sharp differences on how to handle the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. 

Moderator Kristen Welker of NBC News opened the debate by pointing out that since the two candidates’ last debate, 16,000 more Americans have died from COVID-19 and several states, including Wisconsin, have seen spikes in cases. She asked Trump how he would lead in this new phase of the outbreak if he were to win re-election. 

Trump defended his COVID-19 response by blaming the outbreak on China, promising a vaccine would be out soon, promoting the treatment he received, and stating, once again, that the false assertion that the outbreak would soon be over.

“More and more people are getting better. We have a problem that is a worldwide problem,” Trump said. “We’re rounding the turn. We’re rounding the corner. It’s going away.”

There is no credible data underpinning that claim, and the Institute for Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, predicts that if nothing changes between now and Feb. 1, the US death toll could rise to as high as 385,000. According to the charts’ latest calculations on Thursday, if universal masking were adopted that projection could drop to 322,000; if restrictions are loosened, it could be as high as 485,000.

Biden began his response by pointing out that 220,000 Americans have died so far of COVID-19.

“Anyone who is responsible for not taking control – in fact saying ‘I take no responsibility’ – anyone responsible for that many deaths should not remain President of the United States of America,” Biden said. “We’re in a circumstance where the president so far has no comprehensive plan.”

In Wisconsin, the IMHE model as of Thursday projected that by Feb. 1, if everything remains the same, the state’s death toll, currently at 1,703, could rise above 6,200. If masking were mandated that number could drop to less than 5,000, but if restrictions are loosened it could go as high as 12,000.

Trump continued to push for re-opening the country during Thursday’s debate.

“We have to open our nation,” he said. “We can’t close our nation or else there won’t be anything left.”

Biden said that if elected, he would mandate mask wearing, implement rapid testing nationwide, and set national standards for when to close or reopen schools and businesses and how to safely re-open them, while providing financial resources to do so. 

“I’m going to shut down the virus, not the country,” Biden said. 

Trump argued that 99.9% of people who contract COVID-19 survive but, aside from reports of people experiencing long-term illness and repercussions from the virus, that number is inaccurate. According to John Hopkins University’s Coronavirus dashboard, the US has a fatality rate of 2.7% and the fifth highest rate of deaths per 100,000 people at 67.91, after Mexico, Spain, Brazil and Peru.

Trump is scheduled for a campaign stop in Waukesha on Saturday.