U.S. COVID-19 cases rise by 34K; Trump faces new criticisms

Sept. 14 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump's response and leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic is again under fire on Monday, after the United States saw an addition of more than 30,000 cases and hundreds of new deaths.

According to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, there were 34,000 cases on Sunday and 378 deaths.

The national figure was down from 47,500 on Friday -- which was the highest U.S. count in 10 days. The United States has averaged 35,000 new daily cases over the past week.

To date, there have been 6.520 million cases and 194,000 deaths in the United States.

Trump, who last week drew near universal criticism for admitting to misleading Americans and "playing down" the effects of the coronavirus disease early in the pandemic, is now drawing fresh opposition for staging an indoor rally near Las Vegas on Sunday night.

The rally, at a manufacturing business in Henderson, Nev., was attended by several thousand people -- only some of whom wore face masks. There was practically no distancing at the event, though.

Sunday's was Trump's first indoor rally since the Oklahoma event in June that led to a number of infections among campaign staffers and Secret Service agents. The rally did not comply with the state's 50-person limit on gatherings.

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak condemned the rally as "selfish" and "reckless" and said it endangered "countless lives."

"This is an insult to every Nevadan who has followed the directives, made sacrifices, and put their neighbors before themselves," Sisolak tweeted. "It's also a direct threat to all of the recent progress we've made, and could potentially set us back."

Trump's administration is also facing new criticism from researchers and scientists about reports over the weekend that said some presidential appointees have interfered with health assessments of the virus so they better match with Trump's statements.

Michael Caputo, a public affairs official for the Department of Health and Human Services, said Saturday he and another adviser have repeatedly pushed for changes to the CDC's weekly report about the pandemic. He said they'd done so since June.

They had complained that the CDC reports would undermine Trump's more optimistic messages about the outbreak, Politico reported.

Dr. William Schaffner, a member of the editorial board of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and an infectious diseases expert, said he was "aghast" and "appalled." He said the weekly report as a key part of the worldwide medical community's collaboration on tracking the virus.

"It has been the voice of the U.S. government's health system, of integrity and scientific rigor, for years," he said. "Indeed, the MMWR has been a model for other countries' ministries of public health for creating similar newsletters in their countries."

"This is outright egregious. It's despicable," added Dr. Eric Topol, a professor of molecular medicine at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif.

Over the weekend, Missouri exceeded 100,000 cases. Health officials said Sunday an increase of 1,600 cases pushed the tally over the mark.

The state also reported a record number of hospitalizations.

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