Trump claims coronavirus numbers 'are going down almost everywhere.' That's not the case.
As the United States nears 80,000 COVID-19 deaths, President Trump enthusiastically claimed Monday that things are looking "much better" in terms of the coronavirus pandemic, with "numbers" — presumably new infections, deaths, and hospitalizations — improving across the board.
Coronavirus numbers are looking MUCH better, going down almost everywhere. Big progress being made!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 11, 2020
In reality, that's not the case. While the U.S. has made some progress overall, and increases in confirmed infections can be attributed in part to an increase in testing, there are many places across the country that are actually on an upward trajectory. California, for example, has seen cases and deaths rise, and researchers are now concerned the virus' toll in the Golden State will be worse than originally predicted.
When the New York area, the U.S. epicenter which has shown sustained improvement, is removed from the equation, hospitalizations and deaths continue to rise nationally.
Nationally, hospitalizations and deaths continue to rise once New York region is excluded from totals. New cases across the nation also continue to build, although some of that is function of more widespread testing. New York is showing sustained declines for more than two weeks pic.twitter.com/mPP2TwhBdh
— Scott Gottlieb, MD (@ScottGottliebMD) May 10, 2020
And, of course, the virus has infected people who work at the White House, though Trump doesn't seem perturbed by the development.
It is absolutely bonkers that we’re already having conversations about opening up society when we can’t control the spread of the virus within our own political system. pic.twitter.com/cjKf0Y7fJU
— Lucas Shaw (@Lucas_Shaw) May 11, 2020
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