Turkish expert in US blasts federal response to virus

WASHINGTON

The U.S. government has fallen far short in its response to the coronavirus “tsunami,” according to the leader of a pharmacists' group.

People saw it coming, “but the U.S. government did nothing," Mehmed Bulend Ugur, head of the Turkish American Pharmacists Association, told Anadolu Agency.

The pharmacist, who has been working for 15 years in Trenton, New Jersey – just 83 kilometers (52 miles) from New York City, the virus’ epicenter in the U.S. – accused the Trump administration of acting as if “people with a strong immune system would be fine" in the face of the pandemic.

"They took action when they faced a backlash," Ugur said, but added that their steps fell short. "They waited for people to get sick, and now they’re doing a rescue."

He stressed that the U.S. healthcare system "has never been good and equal to every citizen."

People with more than a $1 million in their bank account get better care than those with $100,000, he said of the U.S., which lacks a government healthcare system, unlike other developed countries.

A healthcare system that fails to provide for the common well-being is not good, he added.

On the pandemic’s effect on the pharmacy sector, he said while mail-order-oriented firms like Amazon and UPS are booming, small, bricks-and-mortar pharmacies are facing tough times.

The sector’s recovery from the pandemic won’t be easy, he added.

The U.S. has the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases and fatalities worldwide, with nearly 640,000 cases and almost 31,000 deaths, according to data compiled by Maryland-based Johns Hopkins University.

The country has seen some 53,000 recoveries.

Overall, the virus has spread to 185 countries, infecting over 2 million people, and killing over 137,000 worldwide since it first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year. Over 518,000 have recovered from the virus.

*Writing by Beyza Binnur Donmez from Ankara