Donald Trump claims 99% coronavirus cases in US are 'harmless' as infections spike

Amid criticism over country’s response to coronavirus contagion, US President Donald Trump utilised his address on 244th Independence Day of US to state series of misleading claims. From saying that China will be “held accountable” to claiming that “99 per cent” of COVID-19 cases are harmless in country. White House organised an event ‘Salute to America’ with guests mostly defying social distancing and skipping masks on July 4 when coronavirus infections in country have surpassed 2.8 million with more than 129,600 deaths. 

Amid such grim times, President of world’s most virus-hit country, Donald Trump boasted about COVID-19 testing that is happening in United States. He also reiterated that American health professionals have almost “tested 40 million people”. sudden surge in COVID-19 cases has sent waves of concerns to all state administrations with most of m even rolling back on reopening. Some of US states have also made wearing masks mandatory in fear of contracting vel coronavirus. However, Donald Trump said that country has been making progress while US top infectious disease expert recently ted that America is ‘t going in right direction’.

Donald Trump said amid loud cheers by crowd, "We got hit by virus that came from China. We’ve made a lot of progress. Our strategy is moving along well. It goes out in one area, it rears back its ugly face in ar area. But we’ve learned a lot. We’ve learned how to put out flame.”

“w we have tested almost 40m people. By so doing, we show cases, 99% of which are totally harmless. Results that or country can show because or country has testing that we have, t in terms of numbers or in terms of quality,” he added.

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US records over 43,000 new cases

Furr raising concerns of health experts, US has recorded 43,742 new coronavirus cases on July 4 while total infections have w spiked to more than 2.8 million as per Johns Hopkins University tally. Moreover, world’s most virus-hit country reported 252 deaths on July 4 that has brought total death toll of COVID-19 pandemic in US to 129,676. Even though July 4 figures showcased a decline in new cases from a day before when country reported over 57,600 new cases, US President Donald Trump has been facing severe backlash for handling of global health crisis. 

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