UNITED STATES—The United States has reached a death toll of 100,000 people related to COVID-19. President Donald Trump disputes the numbers, suggesting the toll is being inflated. Most statisticians and public health experts disagree with the POTUS, indicating that the death toll could be higher than what is publicly reported.
During a press conference on April 24, President Trump stated that we would be far below the 100,000 milestone.
“Minimal numbers were going to be 100,000 people. And we’re going to be, hopefully, far below that,” said President Trump.
Senior Scholar at the John Hopkins Center for Health Security, Jennifer Nuzzo said, “The officially reported numbers don’t reflect the true level of illness and death that have occurred. Nuzzo added, “We very much feel the reported numbers reflect an undercount.”
With states across North America are slowly loosening restrictions and starting to reopen, experts are concerned about a second wave of infections.
A team of researchers from Britain’s Imperial College London released a report on May 21 detailing that COVID-19 deaths in the United States could double in two months with restrictions being relaxed.
“We predict that deaths over the next two-month period could exceed current cumulative deaths by greater than two-fold, if the relationship between mobility and transmission remains unchanged. Our results suggest that factors modulating transmission such as rapid testing, contact tracing and behavioral precautions are crucial to offset the rise of transmission associated with loosening of social distancing,” states the report.
In addition to disputing the number of deaths, President Trump demanded that states allow churches to reopen for the Memorial Day weekend despite state quarantine orders.
President Trump called houses of faith, including churches, synagogues, and mosques, “essential services” and urged governors to reopen them “right now.”
He said he would “override” any governors who did not comply with the demand.
