COVID-19 has highlighted a fundamental difference between Australia and the US.

Of the 2.7 million cases of coronavirus in the world, close to 900,000 are coming out of the United States.

They’ve lost more than 49,000 people, more than any country in the world, with New York alone recording hundreds of deaths a day.

And yet President Donald Trump has applauded steps taken by a handful of Republican-led US states, including Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee, to start reopening their economies despite a potential fresh surge of coronavirus infections.

“Our country is starting to OPEN FOR BUSINESS again,” the 73-year-old wrote on Twitter this week.

WATCH:Trump using a coronavirus press conference to talk about himself.

Trump’s America is in chaos right now, with the President constantly confusing his nation with factually incorrect, emotionally reactive and sometimes just plain scary declarations as the country battles a health and economic calamity.

But by far the most concerning Trump-ism right now are his messages of support to those states who want to start reopening – which would involve breaking laws that his government have put in place to protect the country from the virus.

States are safely coming back. Our Country is starting to OPEN FOR BUSINESS again. Special care is, and always will be, given to our beloved seniors (except me!). Their lives will be better than ever…WE LOVE YOU ALL!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 22, 2020

He has repeatedly said in his daily briefings he doesn’t think protests against stay-at-home-orders are putting people at risk of spreading or getting COVID-19 – when all signs point to the fact that’s exactly how the disease spreads: when it’s given large groups of people to jump between.

Here in Australia, the very reason our government is starting to talk about easing restrictions is because of our collective ability in recent weeks to follow the rules and the direction of our government.

As we flatten our curve, America’s continues to soar.

Of course, we have sections of the population who don’t agree with the government’s strict measures. We also have a small number of people who have threatened to protest.

But the reason we are where we are is because the vast majority of us have followed the directions we’ve been given. In fact, we’ve even surpassed the government’s expectations.

In the US, while the protests against lockdown laws could be dismissed as involving only a relative few, their demonstrations are large enough to risk regional escalation of the virus in the places they are gathering. Even more worryingly, their anger is working.

Georgia, South Carolina and several other southern states have already begun reopening their economies, despite experts pleading with them about the possible fatal consequences.

Here are just some of the signs being held in protests across America right now.

The protests have led to a number of counter protests, with healthcare professionals also taking to the streets to stand in front of protesters - holding signs reminding people why shutdown measures are so important.

With calls of "people over profit," "stop the spread," and "we work sick you get sick," it's made for some searing scenes across America in recent days.

One protester even leaned out of her car window, wearing an American flag T-shirt, holding a placard that read “land of the free" to yell at a healthcare worker in scrubs: “This is a free country. This is the land of the free. Go to China!”

This video of a nurse who is on the frontlines of this pandemic being told to “go to China” has gotta be the most insane thing I’ve seen on Twitter dot com in the 11 years I’ve been on this platform. And I used to report ISIS accounts for a living.pic.twitter.com/5E4Hi6P7DR

— Mari Manoogian ???????????? (@MariManoogian) April 20, 2020

Never have we been luckier to be in Australia.

Yes we have disgruntled people here - every country does - but we recorded as a nation just 12 new cases of coronavirus overnight, and could be mere weeks away from getting some of our freedoms back, safely.

By taking to the streets while the virus is still running rampant, this small group of protesters in America will quite possibly jeopardise their entire country's chances of getting a hold on this pandemic.

And their President is only adding to the confusion.

Feature image: Getty.