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Published 17:15 IST, May 11th 2020

Trump called US 'king of ventilators' a week after doctors stopped its use

Trump has been gloating over the number of ventilators the US was able to procure in such a short period but they are now forced to ship surplus ventilators.

Reported by: Kunal Gaurav
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US President Donald Trump boasted called America "king of ventilators” after doctors stopped using it on COVID-19 patients due to an observation where they found an unusually high mortality rate among victims who were put on ventilators. Trump has been gloating over the number of ventilators that the US was able to procure in such a short period but they are now forced to ship surplus ventilators to other nations for COVID-19 response.

While has Trump showed optimism about having more number of ventilators, a draft government report has projected that fatalities due to the coronavirus can reach over 3,000 per day by June 1 in the United States, which is twice the present rate. On the contrary, Trump had recently said that the death toll of COVID-19 disease can spike mostly up to one lakh and expressed confidence over finding a vaccine before 2020 ends.

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Planning to ship

The United States is now reportedly planning to ship at least 8,000 ventilators to foreign countries by the end of July. “We have nine factories that are throwing out ventilators at numbers that nobody can believe. There’s not been anything like that since the Second World War,” Trump had said on May 8 while doctors in the US are using ventilators only as a last resort.

Read: US Has More Ventilators Now Than Anybody In World: Donald Trump

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According to the latest report, over 4.2 million coronavirus cases have been confirmed worldwide with over 284,000 deaths, overwhelming health care facilities across the globe. The United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain, are the worst-hit countries due to the pandemic with around 60 per cent of death toll reported from these four countries alone. 

The numbers get more sombre for the US as it has reported nearly 1.3 million cases, almost one-third of the worldwide cases, and more than 80,000 deaths due to the infectious disease. Within the United States, New York has reported over one-fourth of the nationwide coronavirus cases and almost one-tenth of the worldwide cases.

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Read: White House: US Planning To Ship 8,000 Ventilators Abroad

Read: Donald Trump Says Some White House Staffers Wearing Masks After Valet Tested Positive

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(Inputs / Image: AP)

17:15 IST, May 11th 2020