Trump says the U.S will have few positive cases should government stop coronavirus testing [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Trump claimed the reason for the spike in the number of coronavirus cases in the U.S is due to its testing capability.
• Pence confirmed the administration is now focusing on campaign and businesses reopening across the nation.
• A surge of COVID-19 cases was observed in several states, which earlier lifted lockdown measures.

President Donald Trump rebuffed concerns about the growing COVID-19 cases throughout several states in the country, saying the rise was due to the government’s expanded testing capacity.

“If we stop testing right now, we’d have very few cases, if any,” Trump said during a White House event on Monday.

Trump has previously made often erratic remarks about testing. On several occasions, he has attempted to rebuke the coronavirus outbreak’s severity by saying America made more testing than any other nation, which gave the higher numbers in return.

In other instances, Trump was seen complaining about high numbers of positive cases because they were testing too many individuals.

On Monday morning, Trump posted on Twitter his multiple opinions about testing by saying that the U.S’ capability to screen is more advanced than other countries.

On the same day, Vice President Pence echoed Trump’s comments, indicating the White House has now prioritized reopening the economy and campaign caucuses, rather than dealing with the health issues surrounding COVID-19.

Trump has given the notion that his administration no longer intends to implement lockdown measures due to the economic impact it has brought to the country.

Since the White House has ceased having daily coronavirus briefing since April,  members of the administration’s task force and health experts Deborah Birx and Anthony Fauci were seen less by the public.

The outbreak affected the United States while it was on its election year, and Trump’s poll statistics have dropped amidst the health crisis.

According to an analysis by The New York Times, the number of COVID-19  cases grew in 20 states since last week.  The data, though, may not be reliable as several states are also boosting their testing numbers.

However, some states were declining in the number of daily tests conducted despite data showing there’s an increase in the number of cases in their week’s average. Other states showed a similar trend cause the rate of new COVID-19 cases is growing faster than their testing capacities.

The proportion of confirmed positive cases versus the total number of tests conducted is also rising. This percentage indicates that states do not have the contagion contained amidst reopening plans of businesses.

Source: The Hill