Coronavirus Cases Continue to Climb Two Weeks After Trump Claimed They'd Be "Close to Zero"

X Facebook Email Flipboard Pinterest Print Reddit

Last updated on March 12th, 2020 at 09:39 am

Coronavirus infections in the United States continue to climb, topping over 1,000 cases nationwide two weeks after President Donald Trump erroneously claimed they’d be “close to zero.”

“And again, when you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that’s a pretty good job we’ve done,” the president said in remarks made on February 26.

One of the nation’s top health officials says citizens should brace for significant impacts on their daily routines.

In a statement, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said, “We would like the country to realize that as a nation, we can’t be doing the kinds of things we were doing a few months ago. It doesn’t matter if you’re in a state that has no cases or one case.”

Infectious disease epidemiologist and biologist Marc Lipsitch believes “20%-60% of adults” could end up infected with the virus. The United States has now logged 31 deaths from the virus, with the latest string of infections being tied to Boston’s Biogen leadership conference and elder care facilities in the stricken Seattle area.

The rising rate of infections has prompted serious action: Washington Governor Jay Inslee plans to announce a ban on gatherings and events of more than 250 people in the entire Seattle area, according to a person who spoke to the Associated Press who was involved in the decision-making process. Inslee will hold a news conference today at 10:15 a.m.

Meanwhile, Representatives Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), two of Trump’s biggest allies in Congress, “underwent coronavirus testing in recent days in apparent defiance of federal recommendations reserving those tests for patients exhibiting symptoms of infection,” according to a Washington Post report.

The Trump administration has been criticized for its response to the national outbreak and testing remains scarce, leaving it difficult to determine the precise number of Americans who are infected.