Trump Tells Hannity His ‘Hunch’ is That Coronavirus’ 3.4% Mortality Rate is a ‘False Number’

Colby HallMar 5th, 2020, 6:23 am
 

President Donald Trump believes that the coronavirus is far less deadly than the 3.4% mortality rate reported by the World Health Organization, though he admitted that his insights were “just a hunch.”

The commander in chief phoned into Hannity Wednesday night and its host noted “the global death rate as 3.4 percent,” before asking Trump to react to the news that the Olympics could be delayed.

“I think the 3.4% is a false number,” Trump told Sean Hannity. “Now, this is just my hunch, but based and a lot of conversations with a lot of people that do this.”

Trump noted that “a lot of people ” that have a mild case of the coronavirus that “they don’t even see or call a doctor,” which are individuals who would ostensibly drive the mortality rate down.

But Trump’s “hunch” runs counter to the 7.3% mortality rate reported in the United States, as noted here by Yahoo! Finance:

The number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. continues to grow as does the death toll, causing California and Washington to declare a state of emergency. As of Wednesday night, there were 150 confirmed cases with 11 deaths, which puts the mortality rate in the U.S. at 7.3%. But the U.S. is also dangerously behind some other countries when it comes to testing for the virus, which lends credence to Trump’s speculation that there could be thousands of undiagnosed cases not only here in the U.S., but also around the world.

“If, you know, we have thousands, or hundreds of thousands of people that get better just by sitting around, or even going to work, some of them go to work, but they get better,” Trump said. “And then when you do have a death…you know, all of a sudden it seems like 3 or 4%.”

And, as he’s done all along, Trump continued to downplay the seriousness of the virus, along with the report from the World Health Organization.

Reaction to Trump’s “hunch” comment was predictable, with reaction ranging from mockery to outrage. To wit:

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Colby Hall - Founding Editor

Colby Hall is the Founding Editor of Mediaite.com. He is also a Peabody Award-winning television producer of non-fiction narrative programming as well as a terrific dancer and preparer of grilled meats.