The coronavirus, now known officially as the COVID-19 virus is no joke, but despite what we hear from the electronic media and from certain Trump-hating Democrats such as infectious disease “experts” Speaker Nancy Pelosi and our own Senate Minority Leader Chuck “where are the TV cameras” Schumer, it won’t wipe out the human race.

The city of San Francisco is in Speaker Pelosi’s congressional district and the mayor of that city did something this past week that has caused me to shake my head. The mayor, despite the fact that there were no cases of the COVID-19 virus in the city declared a virus emergency.

I shake my head because this is a city that has not been fit to declare an emergency because of streets strewn with human feces and used hypodermic needles left behind by drug users. Nor was a health emergency declared when several large conventions were canceled last year because organizers were concerned about the health risk to attendees.

The Speaker and Schumer have blamed President Trump for just about everything connected with the virus including incompetence, negligence and ignorance. I expect that they will eventually lay all blame for the virus on the President, probably accusing him of spreading the virus to China. Frankly, Nancy, I think you should return to your district and lead a cleanup effort in San Francisco and Chuck, you should spend a little time back in New York City to make sure that the cities grossly incompetent mayor, Bill DeBlasio doesn’t screw up the city’s antivirus effort totally.

Recently Sen. Elizabeth Warren chimed in with her two cents announcing a plan to fight the COVID-19 virus by taking all the money the president would use to build his wall to fight the virus. Senator, that’s not a plan that is just campaign rhetoric from a candidate whose campaign is about to crash.

Our president can be criticized for some things but I think he has done a good job handling the COVID-19 situation. He has put an end to seemingly contradictory remarks by CDC officials that led to perhaps undue nervousness in the nation. He has played well his role as the “comforter in chief” by putting matters in perspective while not coming off as “Pollyannaish” in the process.

Further I think his appointment of Vice President Mike Pence as the “point person” of the government’s effort to combat COVID-19 was a good one. No doubt problems will arise in the effort to contain the COVID-19 virus but that should be expected.

In regard to the CDC I think that they are doing a commendable job under the circumstances. They have been criticized for not moving quickly enough and for not being prepared for the crisis but I think that is unfair.

You can prepare in a general way for disease outbreaks but until there is an actual disease outbreak which begins to develop you don’t know what you are facing. For instance, before you can begin the development of vaccines you must know the disease’s genetic makeup and you cannot finalize treatments and public health measures until you know how the disease is transmitted, what the incubation period is and have some idea about its severity amongst many other things.

The electronic media represented by CNN, MSNBC and sadly Fox News have not always put their best foot forward during the COVID-19 crises. The major news channels spend too much time on using the virus outbreak to build their audience shares rather than attempting to inform the public CNN and MSNBC are doing what they have done for the last 3 1/2 years, which is to attack President Trump as an incompetent who reacted too slowly to the virus and is using money originally intended to fight Ebola, where, by the way, it is not currently needed.

Finally, if the COVID-19 crises weren’t enough, I recently heard that Sen. Bernie Sanders is leading the field in the Democratic race. After his remarks about the “good” things the Castro regime has done for Cuba over the years and as the only Democratic candidate who did not go along with the Trump administration and recognize Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s President you have to wonder if his communist stripes are showing. If I offended anyone with that description of the senator, I’m sorry, but I’m calling it like I see it.

I sincerely hope that the young people who are giving him starry eyed adulation will wise up and realize the truth of the words of the late and great British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher that “the trouble with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.”

In writing this column and for my own personal information I found that the CDC website cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019 provides a wealth of information which is updated each day regarding this still, not fully understood virus. It is well organized, clearly written and easily understandable to even a medical dummy like me. I recommend it highly.

Thomas Kirkpatrick Sr. is a Silver Creek resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com