‘Spectacular Incompetence’ Deals Blow to Virus Response, Summers Says

Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers says the U.S. government’s mishandling of the coronavirus epidemic has dealt a heavy blow to the country’s self-confidence and global standing.

“The United States, once a can-do nation, will have one of the worst records in dealing with a threat that faced everybody around the world,” the former Obama and Clinton administration official said in an interview on Bloomberg Wall Street Week.

Summers, a paid contributor to Bloomberg, spoke after the European Union this week extended a travel ban for U.S. residents, and infectious-disease expert Anthony Fauci warned that the number of new Covid-19 cases in the U.S. could more than double to 100,000 a day. The number of new infections jumped the most in almost eight weeks Thursday, while Texas ordered residents to wear masks and Florida’s largest county imposed a curfew.

Texas Orders Mask Use; Miami-Dade Imposes Curfew: Virus Update