Trump lashes out after his ‘go to work’ comments on coronavirus sparks headlines

President Trump fumed over coverage of his response to the coronavirus Thursday, claiming the media distorted what he said about people who get sick and still go to work.

“I NEVER said people that are feeling sick should go to work. This is just more Fake News and disinformation put out by the Democrats, in particular MSDNC,” he tweeted, using his mocking name for MSNBC network. “Comcast covers the CoronaVirus situation horribly, only looking to do harm to the incredible & successful effort being made!”

The dustup appeared to be tied to Mr. Trump’s comments to Fox News host Sean Hannity late Wednesday.

Mr. Trump did not say people should go to work while infected, though did suggest that it’s common for people to do it. He made the comment while emphasizing that many people, especially younger ones, catch the viral disease known as COVID-19 and don’t see problems.

Mr. Trump’s comments raised eyebrows because health experts have repeatedly urged people to stay home if they feel symptoms of COVID-19 or if they test positive, so they don’t spread it to other people — especially older contacts or those who are vulnerable due to preexisting conditions.

“We have thousands or hundreds of thousands of people that get better, just by, you know, sitting around or even going to work, some of them go to work,” Mr. Trump told Mr. Hannity.

Mr. Trump says he deserves more credit for the relatively low number of cases in the U.S. compared to elsewhere.

“With approximately 100,000 CoronaVirus cases worldwide, and 3,280 deaths, the United States, because of quick action on closing our borders, has, as of now, only 129 cases (40 Americans brought in) and 11 deaths,” the president tweeted.

“We are working very hard to keep these numbers as low as possible!”

Experts say the U.S. case count is likely low because the nation was slow to test and identify cases that are lurking in the shadows.

The administration is scrambling to ramp up testing.

Members of Mr. Trump’s coronavirus task force said any American can be tested now — upon a doctor’s orders — and that they expect to see an increase in confirmed cases.