In a meeting with the press, President Donald J. Trump has declared that extensive testing for the novel coronavirus might actually be “overrated.” This is the second time the president has made this shocking statement. The first time, early in the pandemic, he has expressed his concerns that testing for the disease would mean a higher amount of cases.
After he has toured a medical equipment factory in Pennsylvania known as Owens and Minor, located in Allentown, during which Mr. Trump and his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, were the only two visitors out of the entire group not to wear surgical masks, he has talked to the media about the U.S. plans to expand the country’s Strategic National Stockpile. The president also congratulated the members of his administration for their reaction to the novel coronavirus, saying that the increased testing was done well.
Trump declared, in an event from a warehouse that was designed to look like a campaign rally, that the U.S. has recently performed its ten-millionth test yesterday afternoon. He has also mentioned that the CVS has set the goal of establishing another 1,000 COVID-19 test centers by the end of May, which means that the current number of 10 million will increase quickly.
Trump has said that the reason why the U.S. has more cases of COVID-19 than any other country in the world is that more testing is performed. He also stated that less testing would have meant fewer cases. The president has attacked media outlets for their refusal to accept his so-called “common sense” explanation to the high case numbers his country has. He then went on with his position, which is that the statistics are misleading, and the only reason why the U.S. has more cases than the average is that high-quality testing has led to a higher share of identified cases out of the total amount.
This article was initially published in Politico.