China’s COVID-19 toll way ahead of U.S., says Donald Trump

The President asserted that the actual number was much more than the official Chinese death toll figures, which he said were “unrealistic.”

Published - April 19, 2020 06:51 am IST - Washington

President Donald Trump speaks during a coronavirus task force briefing at the White House in Washington.

President Donald Trump speaks during a coronavirus task force briefing at the White House in Washington.

President Donald Trump has expressed his doubts over the official Chinese figures on the number of deaths in their country due to the novel coronavirus pandemic , claiming that the fatalities were way ahead of the U.S.

Mr. Trump’s comments come two days after another 1,300 fatalities were added to the official count in the city of Wuhan , where the outbreak started. The revision puts China’s overall death toll to more than 4,600.

“We are not number one; China is number one just so you understand,” Mr. Trump told reporters at a White House news conference on Saturday. “They are way ahead of us in terms of death. It’s not even close.”

The President asserted that the actual number was much more than the official Chinese death toll figures, which he said were “unrealistic.”

“You know it, I know it and they know it, but you don’t want to report it. Why?” he asked. “You will have to explain that. Someday I will explain it.”

He also highlighted that on a per-capita basis, the mortality rate in the U.S. was far lower than other nations of Western Europe.

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