Trump Downplaying Virus At Debate at Odds With Reality of Spiraling Crisis

US Sees a Record 77,640 New Cases In A Single Day

US Returns to 1000+ Deaths a Day

42 States See Hospitalizations Rise by 5 Percent or More

Debunking Trump, Experts Widely Warn of a Challenging Winter in US

The United States’ coronavirus outbreak is worsening, even as Donald Trump tries to gaslight the American public about the crisis from the debate stage.

Trump last night made countless false and misleading claims — among them that the United States is “rounding the turn” on a virus that continues to take nearly a thousand lives daily, and that infected nearly 80,000 people yesterday alone. 

The truth of the matter is that Donald Trump’s complete and utter failure to respond to the virus made this crisis worse than it ever had to be. But with more than 223,000 people dead and thousands of families facing homes without a loved one, the virus is continuing to tear through our communities, and more and more Americans are at risk. 

MAIN TRUMP LIE: “I Say, We’re Rounding The Turn, We’re Rounding The Corner, It’s Going Away.”

THE TRUTH: Things In The United States Are Just Getting Worse.

• On October 22, The US Reported 77,640 New COVID-19, The Most New Cases In A Single Day Since The Beginning Of The Pandemic. “The U.S. set a record Thursday as the number of new coronavirus cases rose to over 77,000, topping the previous record in July. Nationwide, 77,640 new cases were reported for the day, up from the previous record of 75,723 on July 29, according to the latest tally compiled by NBC News.” [NBC News, 10/23/20]
• On October 21, The US Reported 1,100 New Deaths, The Highest Total In Over A Month, While 31 States Have Seen Cases Increase By 10 Percent Or More Over The Last Week. “More than 1,100 new deaths were reported Wednesday — the highest daily toll in more than a month, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The 31 states are reporting at least 10% more new Covid-19 cases this week compared to last week.” [CNN, 10/22/20]
  
• More People Are Hospitalized Across The Country Than At Any Point Since August 20, While National Hospitalizations Have Increased 33 Percent Since The Beginning Of October. “More than 41,000 people were hospitalized across the country, according to the Covid Tracking Project. This is the highest level of nationwide hospitalizations since Aug 20. The number of people hospitalized has increased by 33% since the beginning of October, the CTP says.” [CNN, 10/23/20]
• Over The Last Two Weeks, 42 States Have Seen Hospitalizations Rise By 5 Percent Or More, While Ten States Have Reported Record Hospitalizations. “Over the past two weeks, 42 states have seen hospitalizations increase by more than 5%, according to the Covid Tracking Project. Ten states recorded their highest number of Covid-19 hospitalizations Tuesday: Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, West Virginia and Wisconsin, according to the researchers.” [CNN, 10/21/20]
  

TRUMP LIE: “So, As You Know, More 2.2 Million People, Modeled Out, Were Expected To Die.”

THE TRUTH: Trump’s Botched Response Is Responsible For The United States Experiencing More Deaths Than Any Country In The World.

• Trump’s Bogus Claim About Saving 2.2 Million Lives Came From An Unrealistic Scenario That Would “Almost Certainly Never Happen.” “Andrea Bertozzi, a mathematics professor at UCLA, said it was important to remember the 2.2 million figure was derived from a modeling scenario that would almost certainly never happen — which is that neither the government nor individuals would change their behavior at all in light of COVID-19.” [Kaiser Health News, 10/22/20]
  
• Experts Say Trump Can’t Make Claims About Saving Lives While People Are Still Dying. “Experts also pointed out that the U.S. has the highest COVID-19 death toll of any country in the world — more than 220,000 people — and among the highest death rates, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. ‘I don’t think we can say we’ve prevented 2 million deaths, because people are still dying,” said Justin Lessler, an associate professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.’” [Kaiser Health News, 10/22/20]
  
• Meanwhile, Columbia Researchers Estimate That Trump’s “Abject Failure” Caused 130,000 “Avoidable Deaths.” “A new report from Columbia University on COVID-19 deaths estimates that hundreds of thousands of Americans died because the United States’ response to the pandemic was an ‘abject failure,’ particularly the actions of President Donald Trump.” [Daily Beast, 10/21/20]
  
  • The Administration’s Response Was A “Monumental, Lethal Screw Up.” “Dr. Irwin Redlener, the lead author on the study and the founding director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness, laid the blame at the feet of the White House in an interview with The Daily Beast: ‘We believe that this was a monumental, lethal screwup by an administration that didn’t want to deal with reality.’ In the report, titled ‘130,000–210,000 Avoidable COVID-19 Deaths—and Counting—in the U.S.’, researchers at Columbia’s NCDP studied ‘the staggering and disproportionate nature of COVID-19 fatalities in the United States.’” [Daily Beast, 10/21/20]
    
  • Researchers Point To Trump’s Catastrophic Failures On Testing And His Attempts To Undercut Interventions Like Masks. “Researchers cite several well-known but catastrophic factors that plagued the U.S. response: insufficient testing, delayed lockdowns, a lack of a unified federal response, and a failure to mandate non-medical interventions like masks and social distancing.” [Daily Beast, 10/21/20]

TRUMP LIE: “There Was A Spike In Florida, And It’s Now Gone. There Was A Very Big Spike In Texas, It’s Now Gone. There Was A Very Big Spike In Arizona, It’s Now Gone. And There Were Some Spikes And Surges In Other Places. They Will Soon Be Gone.”

THE TRUTH: Many States Are Facing Their Worst Surges Since The Pandemic Began, As Others Face A Rapid Acceleration Of Cases:

• On October 21, Iowa Record 31 New Deaths, The Most For Any Day Since The Beginning Of The Pandemic. “On Sept. 19, the state reported 269 people were hospitalized in Iowa for COVID-19. By Wednesday, Oct. 21, that rate had nearly doubled to 534. On the same day, Iowa recorded a daily record of 31 deaths from COVID-19.” [Des Moines Register, 10/21/20]
• On October 19, More Ohioans Were Hospitalized For COVID-19 Than At Any Other Point During The Pandemic. “Ohio experienced another single-day high in new coronavirus cases Thursday — 2,425 — in a recent trend of record-breaking without any idea of when cases will peak. In all, the number of people who have had coronavirus in Ohio is 190,430, according to the Ohio Department of Health.” [Cleveland.com, 10/22/20]
• On October 22, North Dakota Reported A Record Number Of New Cases And Hospitalizations. “The coronavirus continues to hit North Dakota hard this month, with the state reporting a record number of new cases Thursday, as well as new highs for active cases and hospitalizations. Another 1,038 residents have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the North Dakota Department of Health. The figure helped push the state’s active case count up by 376, to 6,350.” [Bismarck Tribune, 10/22/20]
• Hospitalizations Have Increased 67 Percent In Pennsylvania Since The End Of September And The Number Of COVID-19 Patients Hospitalized In The State Is At Its Highest Point Since June 26. “Hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients continue to climb in Pennsylvania as the state’s fall coronavirus surge shows little sign of slowing down. After a long decline to a low mark of 452 on Sept 26-28, the state’s average daily count of hospitalized COVID-19 patients climbed to 756 on Monday, according to the Department of Health. That’s a 67% increase in three weeks. The number surpasses the summer peak of 718 patients during the state’s July surge, and is the highest number since June 26, when the state was steadily falling from the pandemic’s highest peak in late April.” [Lancaster Online, 10/19/20]
• • The Virus Is Ravaging Rural Communities, With About One In Fourth Death Occurring In Rural Counties. “Now, about one in four deaths from the virus is recorded in a rural county. That stands in contrast to March and April, when almost every death was in a metropolitan area, as the virus tore through the Northeast, after early clusters in the Seattle area and populous parts of California.” [New York Times, 10/23/20]
    
• Arizona Is Facing Its Fastest Spread Of The Virus Since June. “The disease is now spreading at its fastest rate [in Arizona] since June, just before the state became a COVID-19 epicenter this summer. In Arizona, daily case counts, hospitalizations, percent positivity, ventilators in use and the rate at which the virus spreads have all increased in recent weeks. Nearly 6,000 Arizonans have died from COVID-19 so far. About 235,000 Arizonans have tested positive.” [Arizona Republic, 10/22/20]
• Cases In The Midwest Have Climbed 60 Percent Over The Last Two Weeks, Compared To 35 Percent Nationally. “In the Midwest, cases have climbed on average nearly 60% over the past two weeks, compared to 35% nationally. And across the country, most non-metropolitan counties have now recorded at least 100 cases or more per 10,000 people since the pandemic began — that’s almost double what it was in early September.” [NPR, 10/22/20]
• El Paso, TX Is Reporting Record Numbers Of Infections — Despite That Trump Claims The Texas Spike Is Over. “El Paso residents should stay home as much as possible for the next two weeks to help stop a tidal wave of COVID-19 infections, the mayor and medical leaders said Thursday at a news conference. El Paso County reported a record-setting 1,161 new cases Thursday, along with four additional deaths. The rising number of infections means hospitalizations will increase, possibly straining health care capacity, and there will be more deaths in coming weeks as some patients succumb to the respiratory illness, medical officials warned.” [El Paso Times, 10/22/20]
• On October 22, Florida Reported Its Highest Daily Increase Of New Infections In Two Months. “The Florida Department of Health is reporting 5,557 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday, the highest single daily increase in more than two months, according to the department’s data. The last time the state of Florida reported more than 5,000 cases was on Aug. 14 when the state recorded more than 6,300 Covid-19 cases.” [CNN, 10/22/20]

TRUMP LIE:  “I Don’t Think It’s Going To Be A Dark Winter At All. We’re Opening Up Our Country.”

THE TRUTH:  Experts Agree That The United States Is Heading For One Of It “Darkest Chapters.”

• Peter Hotez, Dean Of The National School Of Tropical Medicine At Baylor College Of Medicine, Warned That Next Few Months Would Be “One Of The Darkest Chapters In Modern American History.” “‘The key is now hanging on now for the next four or five months, where we’re going to enter what may be the worst period during this epidemic. As bad as it’s been, it’s about to get worse,’ Peter Hotez said on CNN’s ‘New Day.’ Hotez, the dean for the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, recommends creating a ‘unit’ with friends or family members for the next few months. ‘We could be looking at a doubling of the number of deaths by the week after the inauguration. This is tough stuff. What I’ve been trying to explain to people is it will get better, but we’re going to go through a terrible period,’ he said. Make sure you aren’t alone during this time, and consider having access to mental health counseling as well, he said. ‘People are going to feel abandoned; they’re going to feel on their own. This is going to be one of the darkest chapters in modern American history, and get ready for it, but just remember it will get better,’ he said.” [CNN, 10/20/20]
• The University Of Washington’s Institute For Health Metrics And Evaluation Forecasts That 129,000 Hospital Beds Will Be Needed To Care For COVID-19 Patients By January 2021 — Nearly Twice As Many Beds As Were Used In Previous Peaks. “According to the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, nearly 129,000 U.S. hospital beds will be needed to care for COVID-19 patients by January 2021, when the institute expects the current wave to peak. That compares with an estimated 69,000 beds used by COVID-19 patients in April when outbreaks in New York City, New Orleans and other cities peaked, and 62,000 hospitalizations in July when the second virus outbreak peaked.”  [Stateline, 10/20/20]
• University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation Projected That The US Could See 389,000 COVID-19 Deaths by February 1. “An updated forecast from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation now projects the US could top 389,000 Covid-19 deaths by February 1. And the latest ensemble forecast published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows more than 20,000 Americans could die from the virus in just the next three weeks.” [CNN, 10/16/20]
• Dr. Anthony Fauci Warned That Unless The US Lowered Its Daily Case Count That It Would Be “A Very Tough Winter.” “At the moment, the U.S. is still diagnosing about 40,000 new infections of the coronavirus daily — ‘which is unacceptably high,’ Fauci said, as the nation moves into the cooler seasons. ‘We’ve got to get that down or otherwise, we’re going to have a very tough winter in the next few months,’ Fauci said.” [Los Angeles Times, 10/9/20]