With coronavirus cases rising across the country and the U.S. death toll topping 140,000, President Donald Trump on Sunday dismissed concerns about the spike in infections, saying many people experience nothing more than "sniffles," that positive tests are up only because of wider testing, and that the U.S. response is the "envy of the world."
Trump made the comments in a lengthy interview on "Fox News Sunday" that was recorded Friday.
Asked about rising covid-19 diagnoses, Trump offered that "many of those cases shouldn't even be cases."
"Many of those cases are young people who would heal in a day; they have the sniffles and we put it down as a test," he said.
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"Show me the death chart," Trump said when asked about daily cases in the U.S. now exceeding 75,000. "The death chart is much more important."
While young people make up an increasing share of new cases, the virus has affected people in all age groups. A surge of infections is driving deaths back up again after months of decline, and hospitals in hard-hit states such as Florida, Texas and Arizona are facing an influx of patients that health officials say could soon overwhelm medical systems. Nationwide, hospitalizations were on track to exceed their previous peak of roughly 60,000, reached in the pandemic's early months.
"We have embers and we do have flames. Florida became more flame-like, but it's -- it's going to be under control," Trump said.
The president also said he'd heard the U.S. has the "best mortality rate" related to the virus. He provided White House data that undercut his argument, showing the U.S. rate isn't the lowest. His data also didn't include some countries with lower mortality rates.
"We are the envy of the world," Trump said about testing.
He also said that Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government's top infectious-disease expert, is a "little bit of an alarmist" but that the two have a "great relationship."
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In the past week, members of the administration have criticized Fauci, listing what they said were errors made by the longtime head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
"Dr. Fauci's made some mistakes," Trump said. "But I have a very good -- I spoke to him yesterday at length. I have a very good relationship with Dr. Fauci."
Fauci was once a ubiquitous figure in daily White House coronavirus task force briefings but hasn't spoken publicly at the White House since late April. He has been more candid in warning of the virus's risks and the dangers of a hasty reopening than Trump and other administration officials.
WEEK OF BAD NEWS
Trump's remarks came after another week of grim data highlighting the uncontrolled spread of the virus. Infections rose in every region of the country, with more than a dozen states on Saturday reaching record highs in their seven-day averages for new daily cases.
Georgia, Missouri, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Kentucky reported new single-day case records Saturday, while states from Vermont to North Dakota to Oregon showed significant increases in their weekly averages, according to tracking by The Washington Post.
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More than 20 states are reporting seven-day averages in deaths that are higher than at the end of June, underscoring the turnaround since May and June, when deaths declined nationally.
Rep. Donna Shalala, D-Fla., whose district encompasses parts of Miami with widespread infections, pushed back on the notion that the new cases were limited to young, healthy people and weren't a cause for concern.
"It's the working poor, it's seniors, it's now young people, and it's totally out of control," Shalala, a former health and human services secretary, said on ABC News' "This Week." "We need to close down again ... That's our worst nightmare, and we're going to have to do that."
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The country's already feeble testing system is under increased strain from the wave of new infections, with labs in some places taking a week or more to provide results to patients. Health experts say such wait times render tests useless in efforts to control the virus's spread.
"The national testing scene is a complete disgrace," Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, told NBC News' "Meet the Press" on Sunday, adding that tests sent to out-of-state private labs were taking as long as nine days to return results.
Once a test is delayed for more than 48 hours, it becomes "not very useful for clinical decision-making," former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said on CBS News' "Face the Nation."
"We've had plenty of time to get this right," he said. "What we don't have is excess capacity that we can surge into these epidemic cities." Testing companies were falling behind not just in hotbeds such as California, Florida and Texas, he said, "but now they're pulling testing out of other regions and you're seeing delays there."
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PATCHWORK
With little leadership from the federal government, state and local officials were pressing forward with a patchwork of efforts to control their own outbreaks.
In Los Angeles, where cases have reached record levels, Mayor Eric Garcetti, a Democrat, warned that the city was "on the brink" of another stay-at-home order. He told CNN's "State of the Union" that the city reopened too quickly and called for patience as businesses shuttered again.
In the past week, Los Angeles County has registered its highest current coronavirus hospitalizations since the pandemic began. Garcetti said "a lot of things went wrong" leading up to the dismal numbers but focused the blame on what he called a vacuum of national leadership.
"They said this was under control," he said of federal leaders. "They said this would be over soon. And I think when leaders say that, people react, and they do the wrong things."
"Let people know this is a marathon that we have to kind of push through every single mile, and if we don't come together as a nation with national leadership, we will see more people die," he said.
A growing number of states have instituted mask requirements, with governors from both major parties urging people to stop politicizing the issue.
"It shouldn't be about politics," Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, who last week issued a statewide requirement for people to wear face masks in public, told ABC News on Sunday. "It's not popular, it's not something that we want to do, it's not the first lever we pull, but it is one that when the data says it's necessary, we do it, and I think this is the right approach that we have to take."
Still, others have held out, even as health experts and the CDC stress that wearing masks is essential for curbing transmission.
In Mississippi, which reported record-high average case numbers last week, Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican, defended his decision not to order face coverings. "If I believed that was the best way to save lives in my state," Reeves said, "I would have done it a long time ago."
In Georgia, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Bottoms, a Democrat, and Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, continued to spar about the importance of face coverings. After Bottoms mandated them in her city, Kemp responded last week with a lawsuit seeking to block the order, saying it was not enforceable. The suit requested a court order barring Bottoms from making public statements that she has "the authority to impose more or less restrictive measures" than those ordered by the governor.
"Far more have sacrificed too much more for me to be silent," Bottoms tweeted Sunday in response to the lawsuit.
Georgia set a statewide record Saturday, reporting 4,689 new cases.
AROUND THE WORLD
Globally, the World Health Organization said 259,848 new infections were reported Saturday, its highest one-day tally yet. India, which has now confirmed more than 1 million infections, on Sunday reported a 24-hour record of 38,902 new cases.
Pope Francis said "the pandemic is showing no sign of stopping" and urged compassion for those whose suffering during the outbreak has been worsened by conflicts.
In Europe, where infections are far below their peak but local outbreaks are causing concern, leaders of the 27-nation European Union haggled for a third day in Brussels over a proposed $2.1 trillion EU budget and coronavirus recovery fund.
Confirmed global virus deaths have risen to more than 605,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The United States tops the list at 140,000, followed by more than 79,000 deaths in Brazil. Europe has seen about 200,000 deaths.
The number of confirmed infections worldwide has passed 14.4 million, with 3.7 million in the United States and more than 2 million in Brazil.
Even where the situation has been largely brought under control, new outbreaks are prompting the return of restrictions.
Police in Barcelona, Spain, have limited access to some of the city's beloved beaches because sunbathers were ignoring social distancing regulations amid a resurgence of infections.
As in the U.S., slaughterhouses have featured in outbreaks in Germany. Authorities in Germany's Vechta county said 66 workers at a chicken slaughterhouse tested positive, though most appeared to have been infected in their free time. An earlier outbreak at a German slaughterhouse infected more than 1,400 and prompted a partial lockdown.
Cases in the Australian state of Victoria rose again Sunday, prompting a move to make masks mandatory in metropolitan Melbourne and the nearby district of Mitchell for people who leave their homes for exercise or to purchase essential goods.
Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said those who fail to wear a mask will be fined the equivalent of $140. "There's no vaccine to this wildly infectious virus, and it's a simple thing, but it's about changing habits, it's about becoming a simple part of your routine," Andrews said.
HONG KONG
Hong Kong reported more than 100 new infections Sunday, reaching a record as the government plans to extend the mandatory wearing of masks to more public spaces.
Social-distancing measures including restaurant restrictions and gym closures will remain in place for another week, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said Sunday. The government is also planning to require that masks be worn in indoor areas beyond public transport. Civil servants in the former British colony will be working from home starting today, and the government will offer only necessary and emergency services, Lam said.
The Department of Health said the city had 108 new virus cases Sunday, 25 of those involving people who had traveled abroad. Some 48 of the 83 new local cases had an unknown origin.
"The situation is really severe and there is no sign that it is under control," Lam said. "To combat the pandemic, I hereby urge citizens to be patient in order to contain this."
The latest outbreak in the Asian financial hub has exceeded the magnitude of its previous waves, a sign the worst may be yet to come. The resurgence has been aggressive after a period that saw residents return to normal life.
Information for this article was contributed by Derek Hawkins, Felicia Sonmez and Cat Zakrzewski of The Washington Post; by Mario Parker, Manuel Baigorri and Felix Tam of Bloomberg News; and by Geir Moulson, Bobby Caina Calvan and staff members of The Associated Press.