The Trump administration is privately estimating the daily coronavirus death rate will double in the next month

(Image credit: Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

published 4 May 2020

Publicly, the Trump administration is pushing for states to let businesses reopen amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Privately, it's forecasting a very disturbing future.

The Trump administration is forecasting the U.S. daily death toll from coronavirus will rise to 3,000 by June 1. That's nearly twice the current toll of 1,750 deaths per day, The New York Times reports via an internal administration document.

The White House's prediction is based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention modeling, though reported COVID-19 deaths have already far outpaced the CDC's model. The CDC also predicts the U.S. could go from adding about 25,000 new coronavirus cases every day to adding 200,000 or more daily by the end of the month. As some states resume business as usual, those growth rates could further worsen.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

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.

Explore More

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.