'He has blood on his hands': Columbia University study shows that Trump could have avoided over 130,000 COVID-19 deaths with a more robust pandemic response

• President Donald Trump could have avoided an estimated 130,000 COVID-19 deaths had his administration acted sooner, according to a new study from Columbia University.
• The report, which was published on Wednesday, compared the United States' coronavirus response to that of six other high-income countries that had better success in handling the pandemic.
• The authors found that if the White House had replicated its allies' public health strategies, the US death count could have been far lower.
• Already, more than 222,300-plus fatalities have been confirmed, and Dr. Anthony Fauci has warned that the US could surpass 300,000 deaths by the end of 2020 in the absence of stricter restrictions.
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Upwards of 130,000 coronavirus deaths were "avoidable" if President Donald Trump and his administration had acted sooner and implemented widespread public health precautions, according to a new Columbia University report released on Wednesday. 

"The U.S. should have – and could have – done better to protect the nation," the authors wrote in the study, titled "130,000–210,000 Avoidable COVID-19 Deaths—and Counting—in the U.S."

"Particularly, it is the inability or unwillingness of U.S. officials to adapt or improve the federal response over the course of the pandemic that has strongly contributed to the nation's uniquely high Covid-19 fatality rate," they added.

The report comes as the pandemic continues to rage across the country, with infection and death rates on the rise in at least two dozen states, based on data compiled by the New York Times. 

Grappling with the worst outbreak on earth, the US also has the most confirmed COVID-19 deaths — more than 222,300 as of October 22, according to Johns Hopkins University. The US' top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, has warned that deaths can surpass 300,000 by the end of this year if greater steps aren't taken to prevent virus transmission. 

Other high-income countries, including South Korea, Japan, Australia, Germany, Canada, and France, have been more successful in handling the pandemic and have recorded far low death tolls.

Columbia University researchers found that if the White House had replicated the public health interventions that such nations took, then the US could also have had a significantly lower mortality rate.

If "the U.S. had followed Canadian policies and protocols, there might have only been 85,192 U.S. deaths – making more than 132,500 American deaths 'avoidable,'" the authors wrote. "If the U.S. response had mirrored that of Germany, the U.S. may have only had 38,457 deaths – leaving 179,260 avoidable deaths." 

Despite the US' existing social disparities and fractures in its health care system that have magnified the crisis, the government was well-positioned in terms of scientific knowledge, resources, and money to combat the outbreak more effectively, lead author Dr. Irwin Redlener told The Daily Beast.

The country's disproportionate death toll stems from delayed federal action, an insufficient testing regimen, a lack of consistent mask-wearing guidance, and the failure of top officials, notably Trump, to model best practices, researchers wrote.

The "Trump Administration has shown hostility to much of the critical guidance and recommendations put forth by its own health agencies, with the President at times misleading the public on the scope of the threat, attempting to 'downplay' the extent of the crisis, and advocating for unproven therapeutical or unsafe treatments," the authors wrote.

Trump contracted the disease earlier this month, along with a slew of his White House officials and allies. After a three-day stay at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the president continued to dismiss the threat of the virus by telling Americans to not "be afraid."

"The president himself became a superspreader," Redlener told The Daily Beast. "He has blood on his hands."