Trump says America’s attitude towards China ‘changed greatly’ since COVID-19 hit US

America’s attitude towards China has “changed greatly” since the coronavirus pandemic hit the country, US President Donald Trump has said, asserting that the Chinese government should have stopped the deadly contagion in Wuhan.

America’s attitude towards China has “changed greatly” since the coronavirus pandemic hit the country, US President Donald Trump has said, asserting that the Chinese government should have stopped the deadly contagion in Wuhan. Trump, who has in the past up the ante against Beijing over its handling of the COVID-19 outbreak, told reporters at the White House on Tuesday that the coronavirus should not have hit the world.

“I think our attitude on China has changed greatly since the China virus hit us. I think it changed greatly. They should have been able to stop it. So, we feel differently…,” he said. Last month, Trump said that China must be held fully accountable for its "secrecy, deception and cover-up" that allowed the coronavirus to spread all over the world. China has denied the allegations.

According to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, the contagion has infected over 18 million people and killed more than 700,000 across the world. The US is the worst affected country with over 4.7 million cases and more than 1,56,000 deaths.

The COVID-19, which originated in China's Wuhan city in December last year, has also battered the world economy with the International Monetary Fund saying that the global economy is bound to suffer a "severe recession". Trump told reporters that cases are declining in 70 percent of the jurisdictions, compared to 36 percent last Monday.

“That’s a big, big number. Eleven out of 13 states with a positive rate above 10 percent have seen a decline in daily cases since mid-July. “In other states, the data suggests that the need for continuing vigilance always is strong, even though the numbers are getting very good -- states that have a test positivity rate between five and 10 percent. In the states with the lowest positivity rates, we also see slight increases in daily cases in a couple of them,” he said.

Trump said that fatalities nationwide are at roughly half the level of the April peak. “So, the number of deaths or fatalities are at half the level… this should have never happened to us. It should have been stopped very easily by China in Wuhan,” he said. Trump said that as compared to April, mortality rates are 85 percent lower among individuals aged 18 to 69, and 70 percent lower among individuals over 70 years old.

“We've also made significant strides in sheltering those at highest risk, especially the elderly. Approximately 85 percent of all the current cases are individuals under the age of 65 -- just getting some very accurate numbers on this. And these are people who are generally at a much lower risk of complications. “Since the pandemic began, nearly half of all the fatalities have been at nursing homes or assisted-living centers. That’s an incredible statistic… This data underscores that the best path forward is an aggressive strategy focused on protecting Americans at highest risk,” Trump added.

Earlier in the day, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said that the US encouraged China to fulfill its obligations in phase one-China deal and to fulfill its end of the agreement. “But the president remains keenly focused on TikTok and protecting the private data of millions of people in this country. And the People’s Republic of China’s laws requires Chinese companies to cooperate with PRC’s security and intelligence services, enabling the CCP (Communist Party of China) to access foreign-user data.

“These entities ultimately answer to the CCP, which actively undermines the US interests and is hostile to the American values and the rights of individuals. And the president will stand firmly against China on this,” McEnany said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)