President Donald Trump said the 3.4% global death rate figure for the coronavirus released by the World Health Organization (WH) was a “false number.”
Trump made the remarks during an appearance on Fox News with Sean Hannity, and he did not provide any evidence to support the claim. Instead, Trump said that it was “just a hunch” based on the fact that many people who get infected with the virus do not become seriously ill.
On Tuesday, the WHO announced that the global death rate from the coronavirus was higher than initially reported. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a press conference that the death rate is “approximately 3.4%,” which was slightly higher than the initial reports.
“Globally, about 3.4% of reported Covid-19 cases have died,” Dr. Tedros said, adding, “By comparison, seasonal flu generally kills far fewer than 1% of those infected.”
President Trump did not appear to believe those numbers.
“Well, I think the 3.4% is really a false number,” Trump told Hannity.
“Now, this is just my hunch, and, but based on a lot of conversations with a lot of people that do this — because a lot of people will have this, and it’s very mild. They will get better very rapidly. They don’t even see a doctor. They don’t even call a doctor. You never hear about those people. So, you can’t put them down in the category of the overall population in terms of this corona flu and, or virus.”
Hear Trump’s comments below:
Trump later speculated that the actual death rate is “way under 1%.” Again, the president did not provide evidence for the claim, and experts from the WHO have insisted the number is more like 3.4%.
The spread of the coronavirus continues to be a global issue.
U.S. stock futures dropped again on Thursday as anxiety about the virus returned, The Wall Street Journal reported. State officials in Washington, where the first outbreak in the U.S. is taking place, have confirmed that six people have now died from the virus. The U.S. confirmed death total is 11, according to the latest updates from The Washington Post.