[ad_1]
- President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – led by people he himself appointed – was inaccurately tracking coronavirus cases and death rates.
- The number of cases and deaths in the United States “is far exaggerated,” he said in a tweet on Sunday, a claim that Dr Anthony Fauci and other experts disputed.
- The CDC is much more likely to under-exaggerate cases. Experts for months have said the case and death rates are actually much higher than what is known.
- Trump’s remarks come just as the number of COVID-19 deaths in the United States exceeded 350,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
- Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.
President Donald Trump denounced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Sunday, saying the agency is exaggerating the number of confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths.
The CDC is run by people it has appointed itself. The agency has been updating new cases and the number of deaths daily for months.
“The number of cases and deaths of the Chinese virus is far inflated in the United States due to @ CDCgov’s ridiculous method of determining compared to other countries, many of which are reporting, on purpose, very inaccurately and little,” he said. Trump tweeted. “If in doubt, call it Covid. Fake News! “
—Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2021
Importantly, the CDC and other COVID-19 trackers can only identify the number of known coronavirus cases and deaths. Experts for months have suggested that the case and death rates are actually much higher than what is known, as some cases may go unreported.
Dr Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease specialist and a key member of the White House coronavirus task force, challenged Trump’s remarks on Sunday.
Speaking on ABC News’ “This Week”, Fauci said the deaths “are real” and objected to Trump’s tweet.
“All you have to do is go out into the trenches,” he said. “Go to the hospitals and see what the healthcare workers face. They are going through very stressful situations in many parts of the country. Hospital beds are stretched, people are running out of beds, short of trained staff, and exhausted. “
“It’s real,” Fauci continued. “It’s not wrong. It’s real.”
—This week (@ThisWeekABC) January 3, 2021
U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams also took issue with Trump’s tweet. “From a public health point of view, I have no reason to doubt these figures,” he said. said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union”.
Trump’s remarks came as the death toll from COVID-19 in the United States exceeded 350,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. There have been more than 20,000,000 confirmed cases in the country, according to JHU data.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
[ad_2]
Source link