TLDR: German author now understand that Americans have a system that intentionally thwarts top-down control, and that, even so people, can still learn to adapt and do the right thing even in a backdrop of insecurity.
Bonus Antics: German author uses "(sic)" in photo caption to imply that black nurses from Brooklyn are not speaking proper English.
Good catch. Even weirder in my opinion putting it next to nurses recuperating from their work.
Der Spiegel didn't even get the date right - it was January 24th when Trump said “We have very little problem [sic] in this country at this moment—five [confirmed cases]. And those people are all recuperating successfully.” according to the sources I can find.
This wasn't difficult, I just searched "Trump coronavirus very little problem" in Google News to get a vague idea, then limited it by date to get more specific results.
I couldn't find any evidence whatsoever for it happening on the 24th. To publish it on the 24th would require either time travel or some insight into planned speeches.
It kinda feels like you're trying to discredit Der Spiegel for some reason.
Bonus Antics: German author uses "(sic)" in photo caption to imply that black nurses from Brooklyn are not speaking proper English.