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- U.S. President Donald Trump says 99 per cent of coronavirus cases “are totally harmless” — a statement which contradicts medical data
- While the President also attributes a recent spike in cases to the country’s increased testing regime, the percentage of positive tests is also increasing, meaning community spread is going increasingly unchecked
- Global virus statistics indicate around one per cent of infections end in death, however, in the U.S., the percentage is higher
- Despite insufficient testing, experts believe around 4.5 per cent of those diagnosed with COVID-19 in the U.S. later died from the infection
- Thousands of recovered cases are also reporting fibrotic lung damage and other complications, even after relatively mild cases
- The President’s claim comes just five months out from the November election, where Trump is trying to get elected for a second term
In a Fourth of July speech at Mt Rushmore, U.S. President Donald Trump stated 99 per cent of coronavirus cases “are totally harmless” — a statement which contradicts medical data.
Over 130,000 Americans have died of COVID-19, and the infection rate is spiking in a number of states. Daily new infections have hovered around the 50,000 mark for the past week.
While the President attributes the spike to the country’s beefed-up testing regime, the percentage of positive tests is also increasing, meaning community spread is going increasingly unchecked.
In a CNN interview, Dr Stephen Hahn, Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, declined to directly contradict the President’s recent claim that 99 per cent of cases are harmless.
“I’m not going to get into who is right and who is wrong,” Dr Hahn stated.
“What I’ll say is that we have data in the White House task force. Those data show us that this is a serious problem. People need to take it seriously,” he continued.
Global virus statistics indicate only around one per cent of COVID-19 infections currently result in death, however, the picture in the U.S. is starkly different.
Experts suggest testing has been insufficient to properly gauge the number of U.S. infections, but they believe around 4.5 per cent of those diagnosed with the coronavirus had later died.
Additionally, thousands of recovered cases are also reporting fibrotic lung damage and other complications, even after relatively mild cases.
The U.S. president’s claim that 99 per cent of cases are harmless comes just five months out from the November election, where Trump is trying to get elected for a second term.
Whether his handling of the pandemic and recent claim about COVID-19 will affect the results is anyone’s guess.
