'Trump Death Clock' billboard installed at Times Square over alleged COVID-19 inaction

A billboard has been erected at Times Square in New York to highlight the deaths due to US President Donald Trump’s alleged delay in COVID-19 response. The billboard named ‘Trump Death Clock’ is a creation of award-winning filmmaker Eugene Jarecki and it shows the number of lives which could have been saved had the US President acted sooner.

The counter, based on the estimate of epidemiologists, has clocked over 48,000 deaths so far. Jarecki first came up with a website which showed the clock but then he received suggestions to put on a billboard at Times Square. The filmmaker said during an interview that the cost of the billboard was too less as compared to normal times and was affordable with the help of some contribution from friends.

The website says that the Trump administration was advised in January 2020 to take immediate action to stop the spread of COVID-19. Quoting the top infectious disease expert of the US, Dr Anthony Fauci, the website said that there was a lot of pushback to the advice and Trump declined to act until March 16. According to the website, 60 per cent of American COVID-19 deaths would have been avoided if the measures were implemented a week earlier.

The New York-based filmmaker claimed that the current death clock is based on a conservative estimate calculated by specialists following Fauci’s remark. Trump has been under fire for alleged delay in COVID-19 response and ignoring the early warnings of the World Health Organisation (WHO). 

Read: Trump Called US 'king Of Ventilators' A Week After Doctors Stopped Its Use

Worst-hit

According to the latest report, over 4.2 million coronavirus cases have been confirmed worldwide with over 287,000 deaths, overwhelming health care facilities across the globe. The United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain, are the worst-hit countries due to the pandemic with around 60 per cent of death toll reported from these four countries alone. 

The numbers get more sombre for the US as it has reported nearly 1.4 million cases, almost one-third of the worldwide cases, and more than 81,000 deaths due to the infectious disease. Within the United States, New York has reported over one-fourth of the nationwide coronavirus cases and almost one-tenth of the worldwide cases.

Read: Russia Overtakes Italy, UK In Coronavirus Cases, Third Highest Worldwide

(Image: YouTube / Trump Death Clock)