A Revelation of COVID-19 - a Shifting Global Sphere of Influence

CNN has reported that amid a video-G20 Summit on COVID-19 between world political leaders, the United States (US) - the wealthiest nation on the Planet, via the Department of State, is asking it's global diplomatic missions to seek from their host nations any excess medical items to help fight the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). 

As the wealthiest nation seeks to source much needed medical gear from others, a dire picture of the scope of the spreading COVID-19 pandemic, is being manifested in New York City, New York, where disheartening pictures have shown medical staff forced to wear garbage bags as protective gear amid a chronic shortage of PPE's for front line caregivers.

The willful referencing of COVID-19 by President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other members of the Trump administration to denote the geographical place the Novel Coronavirus first showed up in 2019, has deepened an unnecessary rift with the People's Republic of China (PRC). The racist and xenophobic act to assign COVID-19 to a geographical demarcation has been done over the objection of the World Health Organization (WHO). And because of this continued misstep by the Trump administration, global consensus to battle COVID-19 has been impeded. Medical equipment and testing supplies remain insufficient in the US.

As the PRC continues to recover from COVID-19 which is now spreading quickly in the US and across Europe, China has taken the global leadership role in assisting some 80 countries fight the pathogen. China has given medical equipment including masks, gowns and ventilators to countries including Italy, Spain, Serbia, France and others. Chinese personnel have also been dispatched to assist in the global fight on COVID-19. Back in January, at the height of the epidemic in China, the European Union (EU) did donate some 20 tons of medical supplies to China, thus signaling a needed global reciprocal cooperation to win against the pandemic. A couple minutes ago, G20 leaders committed to a multi-trillion dollar macroeconomic package to fight COVID-19.

So while the Trump administration seeks international aid to fight COVID-19 in America, China has stepped into the leadership role of delivering health assistance to dozens of countries fighting the pandemic, a role the US, once-upon-a-time, might have filled, therefore confirming a shift in the global sphere of influence.