coronavirus pandemic has claimed now
more than 100,000 lives in America over
the past four months
it's the highest total of any country in
the world our North America
correspondent Ally McBeal has been
speaking to some of the families who
have lost loved ones friends and
relatives of more than a hundred
thousand people in America and I'll just
plant the memories of happier times
[Music]
you know my father was a really caring
person and he just wanted to help people
and he was really outgoing you know he
thought he was really funny Doug
Lambrecht was one of the first confirmed
deaths back on the 1st of March as
somebody who lost someone so close to
them and it was obviously very very dear
to you so early on when you saw the way
this was going in the country how has it
made you feel at the last couple of
months it's scary it's sad I feel angry
we should have been listening to the
doctors and the scientists we should not
have been listening to people talking
about stock market it's natural that
people are reaching for answers for
someone to be accountable after scenes
like mass graves being dug in New York
and refrigerated trucks lining up to
receive the dead once the morgues were
full we now know that african-americans
like Rhoda hatch are still dying in
disproportionate numbers I think a
hundred thousand is an extraordinary
number it means that there's a lot of
pain and grief but some of us in the
black community are very concerned that
as the narrative became that
african-americans were
disproportionately impacted by the virus
that there was also then a push to open
up the country that many of us think you
know prematurely that again suggests a
devaluation of black lives
those calls do we open go on even as the
number of dead continues to mount and as
the nation mourns well flags have most
recently been lowered here after
tragedies like mass shootings and even
then it's been difficult to grapple with
the scale of loss after sometimes dozens
of people have been killed but how then
does America even begin to count the
emotional cost of such a staggering
number of deaths to really do justice to
the stories of those lost would take
many lifetimes for people left behind
the question lingers could more have
been done so these Americans and tens of
thousands of others might still be
around
aleem aboard BBC news in Washington and
I can talk now to Frank
Langford who's a correspondent at NPR US
National Public Radio he joins me now
from Weybridge Frank thank you for
taking the time to talk to us today an
incredibly grim tally to be talking
about 100,000 deaths one report has the
virus infection rates still going up in
approximately 20 states what has been
the the public reaction to news of this
figure being passed hi I think it's a
huge milestone for the country and I
think it's it has a big impact on the
United States which before this happened
keeping the United States thought that
the country was prepared for this sort
of thing clearly it was not and to be
not only the country that suffered the
most deaths but has crossed this
incredible threshold I think I think it
has people reassessing the country's
effectiveness at dealing with these
sorts of things the United States is
normally very good at dealing with these
kinds of disasters and problems and so I
think it's really shaking people all
over the country this is clearly a
public health emergency it's also a
political emergency in some countries
depending on how the public view a
particular government a particular
leader has handled the situation clearly
it's a pressing one for Donald Trump up
for re-election he hopes in November and
he himself has been talking about this
pandemic in terms of his elect
he has he has created that narrative I
mean how do you think his handling of
the pandemic and this death toll and
it's still on the rise affects his
chances for a second term I think it
will be front and center in the final
five months of this election race as
unusual as it as it is because obviously
Joe Biden has hardly been able to go out
and the president hasn't gone out much
but I think that as we get close to
November the big question for people is
going to be just what you heard in that
earlier report is what more could have
been done there are reports out of the
United States that say even if the
country had locked down a bit earlier a
week or two earlier could have saved
maybe tens of thousands of lives and I
think that the president Trump is gonna
have to contend with that the other
question is going to be where is the
economy as we move into October and
November and how at an individual level
do people experience this do they know
people who have died are they out of
work as they prepare to go to the ballot
box that's going to be crucial to
president Trump's chances to be
reelected and president Trump has been
you know repeating the line we cannot
let the Cure be worse than the problem
itself he's clearly very focused on the
economy but you know if you look back a
few weeks he was talking about the
economy opening up at Easter again
clearly that didn't happen it was much
much too early so do you think in the
remaining months between now and
November that we are going to see
perhaps more so than ever before a
really bitterly fought campaign you know
with with lots of blame being flung
around I think so and I think if you if
you're on the Democratic side you know
the kinds of commercials you're going to
run because Donald Trump because he's
out there so much since January first
you know for a long time downplaying
this now it's a hundred thousand dead
over 40 million Americans out of work
you can just imagine it's very easy to
figure out what kind of campaign that
the Democrats will run against him he
will push to get their economy in the
recovery as soon as possible and that
could help him on the other hand you
know even though we've seen good things
out of stock market stock market he's
not the American economy and it takes a
long time for jobs to come back after
such a deep recession like this so I
think anybody else
honestly this
point any other candidate incumbent it
would be very hard to imagine they could
win a reelection on the other hand
Donald Trump is he's proved over and
over again is a unique president in
modern American history yes and clearly
some of his supporters are you know
utterly devoted to him they absolutely
believe in this you know make America
great again slogan but you know with
with the with the economy in trouble as
economies around the world are in the
wake of this pandemic and still during
this pandemic you know for those voters
who might be persuaded to change their
minds you know how much is this pandemic
going to shift thinking away from Donald
Trump and towards Joe Biden I think
that's a great question Anita I think
there are very few people for these two
men to fight over most Americans know
Donald Trump very very well and I think
it is going to come down to the economy
and to personal experience with this
endemic if Joe Biden is gonna win every
any other people over it's going to be
because people have lost faith his
supports have lost faith in him Donald
Trump ringing back the economy or
because they know people who've lost
their lives and they feel the president
Reserve deserves some responsibility for
that okay Frank good to talk to you
Frank Langford correspondent at National
Public Radio US National Public Radio
thank you very much