“We have it totally under control,” said U.S. President Donald Trump on Jan. 22 in regards to the coronavirus.

He went on to say, “It’s just one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.” The disease, believed to possibly have originated in Wuhan, China, spread quickly across the globe. Coronavirus is currently a worldwide pandemic that has already claimed about 350,000 souls, 100,000 of which are from the U.S. Therefore, the government did not have it “under control.”

Some severe mistakes caused half of the first round of CDC tests to fail. Additionally, in the beginning you could be only tested if you came into contact with someone who had a confirmed case, or if you traveled to China. Although some states are decreasing in their average number of cases, such as our own Washington state, others such as North Carolina and Virginia are still increasing. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. is more than four times greater than any other nation.

But Trump is still pushing states to reopen as fast as possible even though he did not create a clear response that all states should follow, and just left it up to them. I believe it is inappropriate for Trump to criticize governors for keeping their states closed for longer when he expected them to figure it out on their own. All 50 states have begun their reopening plans, yet this could go badly. On the Japanese island of Hokkaido, which had a good amount of control on the virus, 26 days after they reopened they were forced to close once more because of increased mortality, according to Time magazine.

If states open too soon, our nation could be forced to close again in a second wave of coronavirus putting intense strain on the healthcare system and another slew of coronavirus deaths. I understand our economy needs help, but if we open too soon it could do even more damage to the health of the American people and to the economy if we had stayed inside longer the first time.As Trump continues to push reopening, especially to churches, I am beginning to believe his support of church reopening is for political power. A large amount of his political support is from conservative Christians, and he likely hopes promoting church going will strengthen his platform.

During this time, strong role models are necessary, yet this is not, and never will be Trump. He rarely wears masks in public, most recently at a Memorial Day ceremony. Trump once said he “did not want to give the pleasure” of him wearing a face mask to the media. By not wearing a mask he puts himself and those around him at increased risk. Further, it gives the impression that wearing a mask is unnecessary. As the President of the United States, he should always put the safety of the American people first. His defiance against wearing masks shows he is not taking this pandemic seriously. Lastly, he spreads misinformation. Trump has repeatedly endorsed the use of hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug, for treating or preventing coronavirus. Trump said “It’s a very strong, powerful medicine, but it doesn’t kill people.”