Two top U.S. health officials on Sunday disputed a claim by President Donald Trump that federal data on COVID-19 cases and deaths in the U...
Two top U.S. health officials on Sunday disputed a claim by President Donald Trump that federal data on COVID-19 cases and deaths in the United States is overblown, and both expressed optimism that the pace of vaccinations is picking up.
'The deaths are real deaths,' Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on ABC News' This Week, adding that jam-packed hospitals and stressed-out healthcare workers are 'not fake. That's real.'
Fauci and U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who appeared on CNN´s State of the Union, defended the accuracy of coronavirus data published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after Trump attacked the agency´s tabulation methods.
'The number of cases and deaths of the China Virus is far exaggerated in the United States because of the @CDCgov´s ridiculous method of determination compared to other countries, many of whom report, purposely, very inaccurately and low,' Trump wrote on Twitter Sunday.
He later added: 'Something how Dr. Fauci is revered by the LameStream Media as such a great professional, having done, they say, such an incredible job, yet he works for me and the Trump Administration, and I am in no way given any credit for my work. Gee, could this just be more Fake News?'
More than 20 million people have been infected in the United States and 350,000 have died - or one out of every 950 U.S. residents - since the virus first emerged in China in late 2019. Almost 300,000 new cases were reported Saturday.
'From a public health perspective, I have no reason to doubt those numbers and I think people need to be very aware that it´s not just about the deaths,' Adams said. 'It's about the hospitalizations, the capacity.'
'The deaths are real deaths,' Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on ABC News' This Week , adding that jam-packed hospitals and stressed-out healthcare workers are 'not fake. That's real'
U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams, right, who appeared on CNN ´s State of the Union, defended the accuracy of coronavirus data published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after Trump attacked the agency´s tabulation methods
Trump leaves office on January 20 after losing a bid for a second term to Democrat Joe Biden. He has frequently has downplayed the severity of the pandemic.
The president has also scorned and ignored federal recommendations for containing the spread.
Fauci told ABC: 'To have 300,000 cases in a given day, and between two- and three-thousand deaths a day is just terrible. There's no running away from the numbers.'
He added: 'All you need to do is go out into the trenches. Go to the hospitals and see what the health care workers are dealing with. They are under very stressful situations in many areas of the country. The hospital beds are stretched, people are running out of beds, running out of trained personnel who are exhausted.'
States have reported record numbers of cases over the past few days, and funeral homes in Southern California are being inundated with bodies.
Experts believe the real numbers of deaths and infections are much higher and that many cases were overlooked, in part because of insufficient testing.
Trump on Sunday claimed that the COVID death toll is 'exaggerated'
He later complained that he isn't getting credit for expert's work
Fauci and Adams expressed optimism that the pace of vaccinating Americans against the virus is accelerating after a slow start.
More than 4.2 million people have been inoculated since December 14 with one of two vaccines, far short of the Trump administration's goal of 20 million by the end of 2020.
'We wanted to get to 20 million, but some glimmer of hope is that in the last 72 hours, they´ve gotten 1.2 million doses into peoples´ arms, which is an average of about 500,000 a day,' Fauci said. 'We are not where we want to be. There´s no doubt about that. But I think we can get there.'
He said he believed that the number of daily vaccinations could be expanded to one million and called for 'a real partnership' between the federal and state governments.
Trump leaves office on January 20 after losing a bid for a second term to Democrat Joe Biden. He has frequently has downplayed the severity of the pandemic. The president has also scorned and ignored federal recommendations for containing the spread
The CDC was in September forced to issue a statement in which they denied exaggerating the number of COVID deaths.
They said then: 'In 94% of deaths with COVID-19, other conditions are listed in addition to COVID-19. These causes may include chronic conditions like diabetes or hypertension.
'In 6% of the death certificates that list Covid-19, only one cause or condition is listed.
'The underlying cause of death is the condition that began the chain of events that ultimately led to the person's death. In 92% of all deaths that mention Covid-19, Covid-19 is listed as the underlying cause of death."
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