As President Donald Trump and his allies continue to clamor for a brisk reopening of the economy, The New York Times has shared projections from within the Trump administration itself that suggest that the U.S. could soon see a daily Coronavirus death rate that’s nearly double the current average that the country has faced. According to the projections, the daily death toll in the U.S. may reach about 3,000 by June 1, which is just weeks away. The projected daily number of new cases included in these same projections is also staggering — according to the Times, collected internal administration data suggest as many as 200,000 new Coronavirus cases a day in the U.S. by the beginning of June.
Breaking via NYT: The Trump admin is privately projecting a steady rise in the number of cases and deaths from coronavirus over the next several weeks, reaching about 3,000 daily deaths on June 1, nearly double from the current level of about 1,750. https://t.co/djlSl1w8H4
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 4, 2020
The numbers have been “pulled together in chart form by the Federal Emergency Management Administration,” according to the Times. The paper reports:
‘The numbers underscore a sobering reality: While the United States has been hunkered down for the past seven weeks, not much has changed. And the reopening to the economy will make matters worse… The projections confirm the primary fear of public health experts: that a reopening of the economy will put the nation right back where it was in mid-March, when cases were rising so rapidly in some parts of the country that patients were dying on gurneys in hospital hallways as the health care system grew overloaded.’
NYT has internal Trump documents, and they project more than 3,000 Americans will die EACH DAY starting June 1 if states reopen. Trump knows this, and yet is lying and encouraging reopening because he thinks it will help with re-election. Unforgivable! https://t.co/JnS3CtDqbP
— Amy Siskind 🏳️🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) May 4, 2020
Throughout the crisis, Trump has steadily added onto the projected final Coronavirus death toll that he has brought up. Just a couple of weeks ago, he suggested that the U.S. death toll would end up around 50,000-60,000. The U.S. toll has since passed 60,000, and during a Fox interview that aired recently, he acknowledged a possibility of up to 100,000 Coronavirus deaths in the U.S.
NEW: Trump administration projects a steady rise in #coronavirus deaths over next few weeks, reaching 3,000 a day by June 1. https://t.co/9XmolfjyG1 pic.twitter.com/mhw7STwQko
— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) May 4, 2020
Reopening the economy via relaxing the social distancing demands that have been enacted in an attempt to stem the spread of the Coronavirus could seriously exacerbate these problems. There is still no vaccine, and there’s no seemingly trustworthy treatment that assists patients with recovery across the board. There’s simply a patchwork of medical reactions that have frequently been pieced together without federal government support. Recently, Trump even dismissed calls for increased testing capacity as a “false talking point,” despite how crucial those additional tests are to tracking the spread of the virus and giving public health authorities an opportunity to avert major crises.
White House spokesman Judd Deere responded to the newly reported, concerning numbers by insisting that the data had not yet been vetted by the main Coronavirus response task force in the Trump administration, which includes Vice President Mike Pence, Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health, and others.
Trump himself has frequently completely dismissed concerns about the lingering threat from the virus. Tens of thousands of Americans are dead, but this Monday morning, he proudly touted the supposedly great “reviews” that his administration has received for their Coronavirus response. It’s unclear if anyone even offered such a review to spark his comments or the president simply pulled the claim out of thin air.
Getting great reviews, finally, for how well we are handling the pandemic, especially our strong production of desperately needed ventilators, the building of field hospitals & beds, and soon, the great things we are doing on testing. People are really working well together!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 4, 2020
