Donald Trump's take on coronavirus confuses public, say researchers

The coronavirus is not as bad as the seasonal flu. President Donald Trump is not worried about having had direct exposure to the virus. The United States is in far better shape than other countries. 

Those are some of the messages from Trump to the American public in recent days.

On Monday, when Trump tweeted that the coronavirus was not as perilous as the flu, he said, “So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!”

Two days later, Anthony Fauci, head of infectious diseases at the National Institute of Health and a member of Trump’s task force on the outbreak, said the coronavirus was far more deadly.

“This is 10 times more lethal than the seasonal flu,” Fauci said on Wednesday, when was asked by a House of Representatives committee for a fact that would help Americans gauge the danger.

These are textbook examples of contradictory communication during disease outbreaks, according to some researchers into the psychology of pandemics and how leaders can most effectively communicate to keep the public safe during them.

Trump has also said he is not worried about having had a direct exposure to the virus and that the United States is in far better shape than other countries, leading some experts to criticise him for playing down the dangers of the disease and lulling citizens into complacency.

History has shown that leaders trying to manage pandemics without full transparency hamper citizens from acting to help, said Steven Taylor, a psychiatry professor at the University of British Columbia and author of the 2019 book “The Psychology of Pandemics.” He maintains that if the public loses the trust of its leaders, people will not listen to them when they offer good advice. 

“On the one hand it creates increased anxiety among those who doubt the truth is being told,” he said of a leader who has lost the trust of citizens. “And on the other it increases the number of people who think the whole thing is overblown.”

Asked about Trump’s messaging around the coronavirus, including his public comments, a White House spokesman said: “While the media wants to spin up fear, this White House is working around the clock to protect all Americans from the coronavirus. As President Trump said this week, we are using the full power of the federal government and the private sector.”

Trump is known for his informal style in attempts to, for instance, calm markets amid trade wars.