IN late February this year, United States President Donald Trump predicted that the number of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases in the US would go down to zero.

By April 28, confronted by his failed prediction as cases in the US zoomed to more than a million and America first pole-vaulted to the top of the list of countries with Covid-19 deaths and cases, Mr., Trump simply said, “It will go down to zero, ultimately.”