President Donald Trump made an announcement on national television on coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. that he and some of his advisors actually considered just “riding it out,” or not responding to the pandemic until they learned that 2 million Americans could die.

The transcript of Trump's remark confirms that he was responding to a question on economic shutdown but not about responding to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The transcript of Trump's remark confirms that he was responding to a question on economic shutdown but not about responding to the COVID-19 outbreak.A reporter questioned President Donald Trump in a press briefing on 29 March 2020 about the concerns over a possibility of the economy being shut down for a long time in the US. Trump then responded by saying that the economic shutdown scenario was not considered before until they figured out the chances of about 2.2 million people dying due to the coronavirus. Further, he added that some of the people had advised him to not move forward with the idea of an economic shutdown as the potential risk posed by the outbreak back then was not as high as it was right now.

The remarks made by the President was misinterpreted and circulated claiming that he was actually advised on not responding to the COVD-19 pandemic itself, which is not true according to the available transcript.

The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a lot of potentially dangerous misinformation. For reliable advice on COVID-19 including symptoms, prevention and available treatment, please refer to the World Health Organisation or your national healthcare authority.