Washington: President Donald Trump warned Tuesday the coronavirus pandemic in the United States will probably “get worse before it gets better.”
“That’s something I don’t like saying about things, but that’s the way it is, it’s what we have,” he said during a White House briefing on the pandemic. “You look over the world, it’s all over the world.“
Trump’s comments come as the coronavirus continues to rapidly spread across the nation. The virus has infected more than 3.8 million Americans and killed at least 141,118 as of Tuesday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Texas and Florida hit a grim record Monday for daily coronavirus deaths based on a seven-day moving average, as hospitalizations continue to surge in 34 states across the United States.
Trump’s response to the pandemic has also come under increasing scrutiny. In recent weeks, Trump has downplayed the threat of the virus, tying the surge in new cases to an increase in testing. However, public health officials and infectious disease experts dispute those claims, saying the rate of cases that test positive in the U.S., hospitalizations and deaths remain high in some states.
A coronavirus model once cited by the White House now projects more than 220,000 Americans could die of Covid-19 by Nov. 1, as new cases reach record highs in parts of the country while restrictions put in place to contain the virus are lifted.
