Trump seems oddly convinced COVID-19 won't return in the fall or winter
The COVID-19 outbreak is still very much alive in the U.S. — nearly 30,000 new cases and 2,100 deaths were reported Wednesday, bringing the total to 842,629 cases and 46,784 deaths, according to counts by Johns Hopkins University and the COVID-19 Tracking Project. And there are serious concerns, evidently shared by President Trump, that premature efforts to lift mitigation efforts will keep the coronavirus active for weeks or months to come.
But at Wednesday's coronavirus press briefing, Trump not only spoke of the outbreak as if it were in the past but also repeatedly insisted it may not come back. "What we've just gone through, we will not go through — you could have some embers of corona and you could have a big flu system," but the coronavirus "might not come back at all," Trump said multiple times. "And if it does come back, it's not gonna come back — and I've spoken to 10 different people — not gonna be like it was."
The public health officials at the briefing gently contradicted Trump. "We will have coronavirus in the fall, I am convinced of that," Dr. Anthony Fauci said near the end of the briefing, adding, "we will be much, much better prepared" and "whether or not it's going to be big or small depends on our response." Before that, Trump insisted that Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, had been "totally misquoted" when he said the outbreak in the fall and winter could be more difficult. When Redfield took the podium two minutes later, he said he was quoted accurately by The Washington Post, though he and Trump quibbled with the article's headline.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"I didn't say that this was going to be worse," Redfield said. "I said it was going to be more difficult and potentially complicated because we'll have flu and coronavirus circulating at the same time." He urged Americans to get flu vaccines.
It's not clear where Trump got the implausible impression COVID-19 would just die out before the election, though he predicted on Feb. 28 that "one day, it's like a miracle, it will disappear." Maybe he thinks that day will come in August.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
ACA opens 2025 enrollment, enters 2024 race
Speed Read Mike Johnson promises big changes to the Affordable Care Act if Trump wins the election
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
McDonald's sued over E. coli linked to burger
Speed Read The outbreak has sickened at least 49 people in 10 states and left one dead
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Texas dairy worker gets bird flu from infected cow
Speed Read The virus has been spreading among cattle in Texas, Kansas, Michigan and New Mexico
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Dengue hits the Americas hard and early
Speed Read Puerto Rico has declared an epidemic as dengue cases surge
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US bans final type of asbestos
Speed Read Exposure to asbestos causes about 40,000 deaths in the U.S. each year
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Seattle Children's Hospital sues Texas over 'sham' demand for transgender medical records
Speed Read Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton subpoenaed records of any Texan who received gender-affirming care at the Washington hospital
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Afghanistan has a growing female suicide problem
Speed Read The Taliban has steadily whittled away women's and girls' rights in Afghanistan over the past 2 years, prompting a surge in depression and suicide
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US life expectancy rose in 2022 but not to pre-pandemic levels
Speed Read Life expectancy is slowly crawling back up
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published