Trump boasts about 'very high marks' on coronavirus as US death toll nears 190,0000

President Donald Trump began the Labor Day holiday with a tweet claiming that the US is “starting to get VERY high marks” in its handling of the coronavirus.

He boasted that the US response was especially good when compared to other countries and areas of the world, then adding: “Now the Vaccines (Plus) are coming, and fast!”

According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the US now has 6.28 million confirmed cases of Covid-19, and 189,000 officially recorded deaths.

Globally the US has the most cases and the most deaths. 

India moved ahead of Brazil behind the US with 4.2 million cases to the Latin American country’s 4.1 million on Monday. Russia and Peru round out the top five.

In terms of deaths, Brazil remains in second place with 127,000 fatalities. India is third with 72,000. Mexico and the UK place fourth and fifth.

At the recent Republican National Convention, speakers referred to the virus as if it had been vanquished by the administration’s actions.

In reality, the country went into the Labor Day holiday weekend with more new cases per day than at the beginning of the summer when the Memorial Day holiday weekend led to a further surge in cases. 

In late May the US was averaging approximately 20,000 new cases per day. In early September that number is in excess of 40,000.

With no national mask mandate and lax commitment to social distancing by many people, health officials worry that a new surge of infections will hit by mid-September.

The onset of flu season is also expected soon, further adding to concerns that medical services may be overwhelmed.

Globally there have now been almost 27 million cases of Covid-19 since the beginning of the year, and 881,000 deaths.