Trump and some top aides question accuracy of virus death toll
President Trump has complained to advisers about the way coronavirus deaths are being calculated, suggesting the real numbers are actually lower — and a number of his senior aides share this view, according to sources with direct knowledge.
What's next: A senior administration official said he expects the president to begin publicly questioning the death toll as it closes in on his predictions for the final death count and damages him politically.
The U.S. death toll has surpassed 71,000, with more than 1.2 million confirmed cases, according to the latest figures.
Trump's engagement could amplify a partisan gulf we saw in this week's Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index over believing the death statistics.
Reality check: There is no evidence the death rate has been exaggerated, and experts believe coronavirus deaths in the U.S. are being undercounted — not over-counted.
Behind the scenes: The official said Trump has vented that the numbers seem inflated and has brought up New York's addition of more than 3,000 unconfirmed but suspected COVID-19 cases to its death toll.
Some members of the president's team believe the government has created a distorting financial incentive for hospitals to identify coronavirus cases, the official also said.
A second senior official said they shared this concern.
Medicare is giving hospitals a 20% bonus for their treatment of coronavirus patients, as a way to help them make up for the money they’re losing because they’ve had to postpone a lot of non-coronavirus care.
Intentionally misdiagnosing patients with coronavirus would be fraud, and so far no one in the administration has publicly leveled such an accusation.
https://www.axios.com/trump-coronavirus-death-toll-d8ba60a4-316b-4d1e-8595-74970c15fb34.html?stream=politics&utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alerts_politics
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Just put ALL of these fuckers in a room filled with Covid- 19!! 
