Jul 5, 2020 - Health

FDA commissioner grilled on Trump's "harmless" coronavirus claims

Rashaan Ayesh

FDA commissioner Stephen Hahn speaks during a Senate Committee hearing — Photo: Al Drago - Pool/Getty Images

FDA commissioner Stephen Hahn didn't provide any evidence to support President Trump's claim that 99% of coronavirus cases are "totally harmless" while speaking with ABC's Martha Raddatz.

What he's saying: "Well, what I'd say is, you know, any case, we don't want to have in this country. This is a very rapidly moving epidemic. A rapidly moving pandemic. And any death, any case, is tragic. And we want to do everything we can to prevent that," Hahn said.

While speaking at a Fourth of July celebration on Saturday, Trump stated that the U.S. has tested almost 40 million people and "by doing so, we show cases 99% of which are totally harmless," per Politico.

The state of play: Many states, such as Texas, Florida and Arizona, are seeing huge surges in cases after they moved forward with reopenings.

At least 15 states broke their single-day novel coronavirus infection records this week, Axios's Orion Rummler reports.

Go deeper: Coronavirus cases skyrocketing among communities of color

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FDA commissioner grilled on Trump's "harmless" coronavirus claims

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