'If we had acted like Brazil, we would have had more deaths,' Trump stated.
"We saved, possibly, 2 million, 2,5 million lives. If we consider that we are at 105 today, the number of victims would be at least 10 times greater," said the US president.
Sputnik - US President Donald Trump declared this Friday (5) that the country saved at least 1 million lives in the new coronavirus pandemic and pointed out that, in another scenario avoided by Washington, the Brazil is going through a "very difficult time"..
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump stressed that lives were saved thanks to the US lockdown, then indicated that the death toll – now above 108 – could have been at least 10 times higher.
"We closed our country. We saved, possibly, 2 million, 2,5 million lives. It could have been just one million lives, I think no less than that. But if we consider that we are at 105 today, the number of victims would be at least 10 times greater. That's what is believed to be the minimum if we had implemented herd immunity," he said.
Next, the US president indicated that, had he followed the path of the Brazilian government, led by his ally Jair Bolsonaro, or the one adopted by Sweden (which did not adopt social distancing), the number of deaths on US soil could have been much higher.
"If you look at Brazil, they are going through a very difficult time. And, speaking of that, they keep talking about Sweden. Sweden has come back to haunt us. Sweden is also going through terrible difficulties. If we had acted like that, we would have lost 1 million, 1,5 million, maybe 2,5 million or even more," he added.
Having been duly informed in January by his intelligence services, Trump downplayed the impact of the new coronavirus. However, after the disease landed in the country via the West Coast, it spread to other states, especially New York, with accelerations between March and April.
Trump also insisted on controversial treatments – sometimes using hydroxychloroquine, or even ingesting disinfectant – to deal with COVID-19. However, the election in November of this year caused the president to back down, although he still clashed with governors who refused to ease social distancing measures more quickly.
The US leads the world in total infections and deaths from the new coronavirus. However, the contagion curve is slowing down, unlike Brazil, which has the highest rate of infections every 24 hours, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), and is still taking measures to reopen commerce.