Donald Trump says up to 1,00,000 Americans could die from COVID-19

As the crisis due to coronavirus outbreak continues, US President Donald Trump has said on May 3 that up to 1,00,000 people in the US are likely to die due to the pandemic. This comes after the COVID-19 death toll in America surpassed Trump’s previous estimates of being between 60,000 to 70,000. In an interview with an international media outlet, the US President also said that he was confident a vaccine would be developed by the end of 2020. Trump said “we’re going to lose anywhere from 75, 80 to 1,00,000 people. That’s horrible”. 

Trump’s statements about the coronavirus outbreak in the US have been apparently alternated between forecasting the economic recovery in the country and placing the blame of mishandling of the pandemic in China, where it had originated in December. As of May 4, the US has recorded over 1.1 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 disease and 68,598 casualties. Meanwhile, after Trump administration introduced the plan for the phased reopening of the country, at least 50 per cent of the country has started lifting the lockdown partially. The US President said, “We can't stay closed as a country (or) we're not gonna have a country left”.

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‘I'll say what I think’

While talking about the coronavirus vaccine in the country, Trump acknowledged that even though he is confident there will be a cure of the disease by the end of the year, doctors would say “you shouldn’t say that”. However, the US President then added that “I’ll say what I think, I think we’ll have a vaccine sooner than later”. Contradicting Trump’s comments, several officials along with top infectious experts of the country, Dr Anthony Fauci have cautioned that the COVID-19 vaccine could apparently take at least 18 months. 

After originating from China’s “wet markets”, the coronavirus has now claimed 248,302 lives worldwide as of May 4. According to the tally by international news agency, the pandemic has now spread to 212 countries and has infected at least 3,566,531 people. Out of the total infections, 1,154,550 have been recovered but the easily spread virus is continuing to disrupt many lives. Major cities have been put under lockdown in almost all countries and the economy is struggling.

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