German minister censures US handling of pandemic, questions ‘America First’ model

Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has censured as ‘too slow’ the way the United States is handling the novel coronavirus pandemic, questioning the so-called America First model employed by the White House.

Maas gave an interview to the German Der Spiegel magazine, a preview of which was sent to the media on Friday.

The foreign minister commented that China had taken “very authoritarian measures, while in the US, the virus was played down for a long time.”

The top German diplomat expressed hope that Washington would rethink its foreign policy, particularly its “America First” model, in light of the coronavirus crisis.

“Let’s see to what extent the actions of the American government will lead to discussions in the US about whether the ‘America First’ model really works.”

Maas argued that Washington’s aggressive trade policies could have undermined the United States’ ability to obtain protective equipment.

On April 3, Berlin State’s Interior Minister Andreas Geisel accused Washington of using “Wild West” tactics to divert and obtain a delivery of face masks originally destined for the German capital.

US using wild west methods to divert German medical orders: Berlin’s top security official

Berlin’s top security official says Washington is using “wild west methods” to obtain personal protective equipment (PPE).

Geisel denounced the diversion of the masks as an “act of modern piracy.”

German media had reported that thousands of masks purchased from manufacturer 3M had been diverted to the United States as they were being transferred between planes in Thailand en route from China.

German officials have confirmed that about 200,000 FFP2 masks — an equivalent of the US N95 mask standard — were seized at a Bangkok airport and did not reach their destined location.

The officials said that the masks had already been paid for by Germany.

To some eyes, the current pandemic could be the worst crisis the United States has experienced in its history.

Stephen Lendman, an American author, radio host and political commentator based in Chicago, believes the coronavirus pandemic is the “greatest dual health and economic crisis in US history.”

Coronavirus pandemic: US faces the greatest crisis in its history

The novel coronavirus pandemic is “the greatest dual health and economic crisis in US history,” writes Stephen Lendman.

“Since 1776, there’s been nothing remotely like what’s going on now. And the set of leadership and Washington capable of handling this, we have incompetence and indifferent people who only care about profit making for themselves and their cronies and their business associates, and they don’t give a hoot about ordinary Americans, and it shows by their inaction to care for them.”

The number of deaths from the coronavirus in the United States topped 16,711 on Friday, with more than 469,464 confirmed cases. US officials warned Americans to expect alarming numbers this week.

The figure in the US, which is the second highest in the world, set new daily records on Tuesday and Wednesday with over 1,900 new deaths reported each day, according to a Reuters tally.