US carried out more COVID-19 tests more than India, nine others combined: Trump

WASHINGTON: The United States has carried out more tests for the novel coronavirus pandemic than 10 other countries, including India, taken together, President Donald Trump has said.

Trump asserted on Sunday that the US continued to make steady progress in its war against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the country had tested 4.18-million people.

“That’s a record anywhere in the world,” he said.

“We have done more testing than all of these countries combined — France, United Kingdom, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, India, Austria, Australia, Sweden and Canada,” Trump told reporters at a news conference in the White House.

The number of COVID-19 deaths in the US crossed 40,000 and the total infections were more than 764,000 so far.

New York, the epicentre of the deadly COVID-19 in the US, has 2,42,000 cases and over 17,600 fatalities so far.

It has registered a 50-per cent decline in new cases over an eight-day period.

“That’s a fantastic climb,” Trump said.

“That’s a beautiful thing to see after going through the opposite.”

According to Trump, countries like Italy and Spain, which initially were reluctant in closing their country, had to pay a huge price.