Trump Raises Estimate Of COVID-19 U.S. Deaths To 100,000 From 60,000 In One Week

President Donald Trump predicted that 75,000 to 100,000 people could die from the coronavirus in the United States. Just a few weeks ago, the president said 60,000 could die.

At a Fox News Town Hall, Trump emphasized the need to reopen the economy. However, he revised his previous estimate of casualties.

“We’re going to lose anywhere from 75-, 80- to 100,000 people,” Trump said. “That’s a horrible thing. We shouldn’t lose one person over this. This should’ve been stopped in China.”

However, the president added that the death tolls could have been larger if social distancing protocols were not put in place. 

“I really think the public has been incredible … that’s one of the reasons we’re successful,” Trump said. “If you call losing 80- or 90,000 people successful. But it’s one of the reasons that we’re not at the high end of the plane, as opposed to the low end of the plane.”

When Fox News anchor Bret Baier mentioned that Trump’s prediction grew from 60,000 to up to 100,000, Trump said, “It’s going up.”

“I used to say 65,000. Now I’m saying 80 or 90, and it goes up and it goes up rapidly. But it’s still going to be, no matter how you look at it, at the lower end of the plane if we did the shutdown.”

Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus response, said that the White House has always predicted 100,000 to 240,000 could die even with social distancing regulations in place. 

Still, Trump has pushed for listing restrictions across the country to open businesses and restart the economy. 

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