Day 1,203: Failing in coronavirus response, Trump readies to argue that death counts are fake news

Nearly 75,000 people in the U.S. have reportedly died from coronavirus. In reality, that number is almost certainly far higher.

Tests are still limited and decisions are often being made quickly, leading to vast undercounting in many areas.

Researchers at the Yale School of Public Health found that in hard-hit areas of the country, the death toll may be off by 50 percent or more.

“Those numbers are only as good as the death certificates that they’re based on. And that depends upon the people who are filling them out,” said Dr. James Gill, Connecticut’s chief medical examiner, and vice president of the National Association of Medical Examiners.

Last month, he reviewed a death certificate for a woman who’d had a fever and shortness of breath but was never tested for the coronavirus. The cause of death was respiratory failure, but the state sent an investigator to the nursing home to take a sample post-mortem — and it was positive for the coronavirus. The certificate was changed.

As the death toll has risen, Donald Trump has repeatedly promised that the virus will soon go away and has touted a number of unproven and ridiculous remedies to treat the virus. Since his proclamations have been proven incorrect, Trump is gearing up for his newest strategy: claiming that the number of deaths is inflated.

President Trump has complained to advisers about the way coronavirus deaths are being calculated, suggesting the real numbers are actually lower — and a number of his senior aides share this view, according to sources with direct knowledge.

What’s next: A senior administration official said he expects the president to begin publicly questioning the death toll as it closes in on his predictions for the final death count and damages him politically.

For Trump, the coronavirus response is purely about the political fallout. There aren’t solutions or plans or even empathetic words for victims and their families. Failures across the board for months have finally led Trump to claim that death numbers are fake news.

1,203 days in, 259 to go

Follow us on Twitter at @TrumpTimer