Trump Contradicts Birx, Says US Handling Of Coronavirus Better Than Other Countries

President Trump on Monday said the U.S. is doing a much better job of handling the coronavirus pandemic than “most other countries,” one day after Dr. Deborah, Birx, the coordinator of the White House task force against the disease, said we have entered a new phase where the contagion is more widespread and no area is safe.

Trump tweeted, with the exception of a few areas like New York City, “we’ve done much better than most other countries in dealing” with the pandemic. “Much of our country is doing very well,” he said despite the recent surge in cases and the mounting COVID-19 death toll, which approached 155,000 early Monday, according to the Johns Hopkins tracker. Estimates indicate that toll could nearly double by the end of the year.

Trump complained the media is just trying to make him look bad.

In an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday, Birx said the virus has now invaded rural areas that were spared at the start of the pandemic when infections were concentrated in mostly urban, densely populated areas.

“What we are seeing today is different from March and April. It is extraordinarily widespread,” Birx said, stressing Americans need to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, including social distancing and wearing masts, recommendations with which Trump has only occasionally complied.

“To everybody who lives in a rural area, you are not immune or protected from this virus," Birx warned. “If you're in multigenerational households, and there's an outbreak in your rural area or in your city, you need to really consider wearing a mask at home, assuming that you're positive, if you have individuals in your households with comorbidities.”

She added: “This epidemic right now is different and it's more widespread and it's both rural and urban.”

Birx blamed the uptick in cases on “superspreading events.”

As an example of the difference in the nature of the pandemic, officials in the Chicago metro area, where suburban areas had argued for separation from Chicago when it came to imposing restrictions to corral the disease, case counts are now higher in the collar counties than the city, officials acknowledged.

The Chicago Tribune reported the city’s positivity rate was 4.5% as of July 25, while surrounding counties are posting rates as high as 6.8%. Officials blame the increase largely on young people ignoring CDC guidelines and gathering in large numbers.

“We are all COVID-fatigued. I get it,” DuPage County Health Department Executive Director Karen Ayala told the Tribune. “However, COVID is not fatigued with us, and still is spreading in our communities.”