Trump denies coronavirus cases are up due to a second wave as US reports 99,000 new infections per day

Donald Trump has denied the second surge of the coronavirus pandemic by claiming the increase in cases was due to an increase in testing, despite the United States reporting 99,000 new infections per day. 

The president pushed the claim in a tweet on Monday, writing: “We have more Cases because we have more Testing!” 

This was not a new claim by Mr Trump, but it has shown a consistent pattern of the president denying the severity of the pandemic. 

The United States recorded more than 99,000 new Covid-19 cases per day on Friday – a number the country hasn’t seen since the start of the pandemic. 

Additionally, 16 states reported their worst weeks last week due to the current surge in cases and hospitalisations, and no states reported a decline in their numbers last week. Three states – Montana, New Mexico, and Tennessee – reported a record number of deaths. 

Mr Trump was correct that both case numbers and testing have increased in recent weeks. But he was incorrect by making the assumption that case numbers were only increasing due to more testing. 

The COVID Tracking Project, which analyses coronavirus data across the country, reported that testing rose 3.8 per cent from one week ago, while cases rose 20.6 per cent from one week ago – showing an increase in cases was far surpassing the increase in testing. 

Also if the president was correct that cases were only increasing due to an increase in testing, then hospitalisations and the death toll would not be on the rise across the US. 

But more than 46,600 Americans were hospitalised with the novel virus on Friday, which was a 25 per cent increase from the last two weeks, according to the Covid Tracking Project. 

On average, there are 800 people dying per day from the novel virus, and on Thursday there was more than 1,000 people who died from the novel virus. 

The grim numbers have caused concern among health experts worried the upcoming holiday season could further heighten the surge in cases, hospitalisations, and deaths. But the president has denied the data in an effort to ease fears among supporters ahead of the 3 November election. 

“We’re at a point where the epidemic is accelerating across the country. We’re right at the beginning of the steep part of the epidemic curve,” Dr Scott Gottlieb, the former US Food and Drug Administration commissioner (FDA), told CNBC on Friday. 

“You’ll see cases start to accelerate in the coming weeks,” he said, adding that “December’s probably going to be the toughest month.”

Dr Gottlieb was not alone about his grim prediction of where the pandemic was heading. 

White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci told SiriusXM’s Doctor Radio Reports the current case numbers was  “extremely high and quite unacceptable.”

“We’re in a precarious position over the next several weeks to months,” Dr Fauci added. 

Experts have warned the US could average 100,000 new Covid-19 cases per day and 1,000 deaths in the coming days if the surge continues to trend upwards.