Amid brief decline in death toll, Trump says there is light at the end of the tunnel

WASHINGTON: The death toll in the US from coronavirus-related illness was poised to cross 10,000 on Monday but with 363 fewer fatalities on Sunday than the previous day’s 1400+ plus, US President Donald Trump declared “we are starting to see light at the end of the tunnel.”

Trump’s advisors, including the US Surgeon General who has warned of a “Pearl Harbor moment” this week, are more circumspect, wanting to make sure the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t an oncoming train. But the maverick President, denounced in the media for lack of empathy and soul, is straining to declare a return to business.

On Sunday, he noted that the death toll from coronavirus in Italy, Spain and Iran is steadily decreasing over more than a week, and Italy and Spain have fewest deaths in over a week. In fact, some of his right-wing supporters have resumed allegations that the US infections, toll, and projections are vastly inflated and are part of a conspiracy to shut down the country and damage America economically.

The case for coronavirus-related deaths decreasing was corroborated by New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who while noting that state officials reported 594 ne