Trump says 99% of coronavirus cases are harmless

The president of United States, Donald Trump, stated this Saturday that 99% of coronavirus cases “are completely harmless” during comments he made at the White House, in which he tried to minimize the recent increase in covid-19 cases.

“We have now tested nearly 40 million people. By doing so, we show cases – 99% of which are completely harmless – – and results that no other country can show because no other country has the amount of testing that we We have. Not in terms of numbers or in terms of quality, “Trump said as he falsely claimed again that the increase in cases is caused by the increase in the number of tests.

The United States accumulates more than 2.8 million cases of coronavirus and at least 129,000 deaths, according to the latest count by Johns Hopkins University. Some infected people have mild symptoms, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 35% of cases are asymptomatic. People with mild or symptom-free symptoms can also pass the virus on to others.

Although the World Health Organization stated that the global death rate is less than 1%, it also noted that approximately 20% of all people diagnosed with coronaviruses are sick enough to need oxygen or hospital care, notes CNN.

Strained relationship with WHO

The President of the United States announced in late May that his country will break relations with the World Health Organization (WHO), as a consequence of what it considers to be an inefficient management of the coronavirus pandemic and a favorable bias towards China.

“China controls the WHO and has succeeded in deceiving the world. We need transparency. They have allowed infected people to travel all over the planet,” said the president at a press conference from the White House.

Earlier in April, Trump announced that he would stop funding the WHO by ensuring that the agency’s management at the start of the coronavirus pandemic was “disastrous” and that it helped “cover up” the initial outbreak in China.

“The world received all kinds of false information. If WHO had gone to China to monitor the outbreak more lives would have been saved“, said.

“His confidence in China’s data perhaps caused a 20-fold increase in the number of cases in the world,” added the US president.

Weeks ago, Trump anticipated today’s decision: He said that if “the WHO does not commit to major substantive improvements in the next 30 days,” it would make “the temporary suspension of funds permanent” and reconsider “our membership in the agency.”

Trump’s evident confrontational tone towards China and the WHO has recently been reinforced. For example, the US president compared the coronavirus with historical attacks that his country received: “It is worse than Pearl Harbor or the attacks of September 11,” he said in early May.

Tension rises with China

Donald Trump also announced this Friday that It will prevent Chinese citizens who pose a potential security “risk” from entering the country.

“For years, the Chinese government has spied to steal our trade secrets. Today I will issue an edict to further secure our nation’s vital university research and to suspend the entry of certain Chinese citizens whom we have identified as possible security risks.” Trump said in a statement to journalists.

The political and trade differences between the US and China remain unresolved.

In addition, Trump claimed that China this week imposed its control over Hong Kong’s security, thereby “breaking its word” on the autonomy agreed upon with the return of London from that territory in 1997.

“The Chinese government’s action against Hong Kong is the latest in a series of measures that diminish the city’s prestigious and proud status. This is a tragedy for the people of Hong Kong, for the people of China, and indeed for the people of the world, “he noted. Beijing “has not kept its word to the world to guarantee Hong Kong autonomy,” he added.

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