Donald Trump Blames On Increased COVID-19 Tests

President Donald Trump blames the rise in coronavirus cases on increased testing, despite evidence of more spread. He suggests that case counts will drop with fewer tests. Trump tweeted, “Cases are going up in the U.S. because we are testing far more than any other country, and ever-expanding. With smaller testing, we would show fewer cases.” Around 20 states in the USA currently have a positive positive rate above 5%, according to John Hopkins University data, and that includes Arizona, which reports that 21.15% of all tests are coming back positive. Health experts dispute the claiming of the president, saying that the surge in coronavirus cases in Sunbelt states reflects a potentially dangerous new phase of the pandemic.

Donald Trump Blames On Increased COVID-19 Tests

Trump compared the coronavirus test with a double-edged sword. At the beginning of the pandemic outbreak in the US, public health specialists and experts criticized the country’s capacity to conduct widespread diagnostic testing as far too little.

The country has ramped up testing capacity to more than an average of 478,000 tests per day in June, compared with an average of over 345,000 per day in May. Experts denied the president’s claiming and have repeatedly said the data does not indicate that increased testing accounts for the recent surge in daily new cases.

The states of the US like Arizona, California, Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, and South Carolina reported record-high new daily coronavirus cases during this week, as case counts continue to rise in more than half of U.S. states. 

What is the reality behind the surges?

Public health experts say that in reality, the surges are due to states’ reopening and people’s relaxing their social distancing protocols. Dr. Irwin Redlener, director of the Columbia University National Center for Disaster Preparedness said, “the surge numbers are real.

More testing will inevitably capture more positive tests. But to deny the fact that we’re having an ongoing pandemic with continued spread is contrary to all evidence that we have and everything that we know about the behavior of the virus.” While taking an example as North Carolina, the first phase of reopening in the state began on May 8, and COVID-19 infections have been rising steadily since, according to state data. Deaths also surged in late May after a steady decline since an initial peak of the seven-day average death toll in April.

Hospitalizations hit a record on Tuesday, with 774 people in the hospital. But just 17 percent of intensive care beds are available, the state said.

The World Health Organization recommends sufficient tests in the states. The increase in positive tests means states are testing only the sickest individuals and missing those who show no symptoms but can still spread the virus. The states which effectively tests and found COVID-19 positive persons have a much better chance of controlling COVID-19, even with an increase in cases. The increase in cases also points out how broadly the virus is spreading throughout the community. Some of them also opinioned that a consistently high positive rate suggests alternately the virus is endemic in the United States, infecting far more people than we know or there isn’t enough testing.