Fauci: "False narrative" to take comfort in lower coronavirus death rate

Anthony Fauci said at an event with Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) on Tuesday "that it's a false narrative to take comfort in a lower rate of death" from the coronavirus in the U.S., warning: "There’s so many other things that are dangerous and bad about the virus. Don’t get into false complacency."

The big picture: The mean age of Americans currently being infected by the virus has declined by 15 years compared to where it stood several months ago. This has been one contributing factor in the lower death rate the U.S. has experienced during the recent surge in cases, since "the younger you are, the better you do, and the less likely you're gonna get seriously ill and die," Fauci said.

• Another reason for the lower death rate is that treatments and therapies for those with advanced coronavirus symptoms have improved in the U.S., Fauci said.
• He noted that "the idea that the virus is mutating and so is less damaging to people, has not yet been proven at all."
• President Trump tweeted earlier Tuesday: "We have the lowest Mortality Rate in the World. The Fake News should be reporting these most important of facts, but they don’t!"

Where it stands: The United States' alarming rise in coronavirus cases isn't due to increased testing — particularly not where cases have grown fastest over the last month, Axios' Andrew Witherspoon and Caitlin Owens report.

• Fauci said on Tuesday that there have been "multiple examples of young people who are getting sick, getting hospitalized, and some of them even requiring intensive care" as cases rise in younger Americans.
• He urged local officials to implement mask mandates and condemned the politicization of the issue: "If you say 'it doesn't matter whether you put it on or take it off,' you’re giving a wrong, mixed signal," Fauci said. "The message should be, 'Wear a mask, period.'

Go deeper: Case growth outpacing testing in coronavirus hotspots