[News] Covid and Trump: The president's healthcare v the average American's

[Sxynix]

 

"Don't be afraid of it. You're going to beat it."

This was US President Donald Trump's advice to the public if they were worried about catching coronavirus.

He made the comments in a video message posted shortly after being discharged from hospital on Monday, having received treatment since his own diagnosis.

But, as many have pointed out, this was a man with a helicopter, a large medical team and experimental drug treatments at his disposal. How does the picture change for Americans with Covid-19 who do not reside at the White House?

It is hard to pinpoint the "average American" amid such a diverse country and such a complicated health system, but here are some of the areas where the president received special treatment and a look at how this compares to the experiences of the wider po[CENSORED]tion.

 

The president has a medical centre on site at the White House, but, as the country's commander in chief, he also had access to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in nearby Bethesda, Maryland.

He was transferred there swiftly after his diagnosis and stayed for three days in the hospital's presidential suite - one of six rooms reserved for high-ranking military officers and cabinet members. It included a dining room, office space and sofas for receiving visitors.

VIP treatment is a feature of American medicine," read an article in Washington Post, looking at the president's treatment. "Major hospitals throughout the country have private spaces for celebrities, the super-rich and the influential, patients who want to be shielded from the public and just may make a large donation if they are happy with their care."

Compare this to the intensive care wards across the country, where beds have been running out at various points during the pandemic. Hospitals in Florida, Texas and Arizona have all struggled with maximum occupancy in the summer.

 

The Texas Medical Center in Houston, for example, prepared a Covid "war room", using various strategies to save space, such as involving reassigning staff, putting beds closer together and using regular beds for emergency use.

Fiana Tulip, from Texas, lost her mother to the disease in July. She told the BBC that her mother was scared of the overcrowded hospitals in Dallas at the time.

"My mum - a healthcare worker who put her life at risk every single day - didn't want to go to the hospital because it was worse there, because it was full, because she wouldn't get the care that she needed, and she knew that because she worked in a hospital," Ms Tulip said.

Case numbers have since fallen below this peak, but there are concerns they could rise again over winter.

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The president was also fortunate to have the high-tech facilities of the Walter Reed hospital so close by. People living in rural parts of the US may have to travel vast distances to get medical treatment.

A study from the University of North Carolina showed that 120 rural hospitals have closed in the past decade.

"Rural places have far fewer physicians to treat the virus (20 per 10,000 versus 70 per 10,000 in metro places), and smaller hospitals with less specialised services staff, and more uninsured people (14%, compared to 7% in large metros)," says David J Peters, a professor in rural sociology at Iowa State University.

"The ability of using telemedicine to address this gap is limited, as nearly 55% of rural households do not have broadband internet access (compared to 35% in metros). Rural places are also vulnerable because they lack access to the interstate system, making transportation of patients, health providers, and supplies difficult and time consuming."

Travelling by helicopter
The president had no such transportation worries. He travelled to hospital in a private helicopter, Marine One, which took off from the White House lawn. The trip took 10 minutes. Even by car, it would have only taken around half an hour.