'It's going to disappear':
A timeline of Trump's claims that Covid-19 will vanish

By Daniel Wolfe and Daniel Dale, CNN
Updated

In his first speech after his hospitalization for Covid-19, President Donald Trump stood on a White House balcony on October 10 and made a grand declaration about the coronavirus: “It’s going to disappear. It is disappearing.

His words might have sounded more dramatic had he not been saying the same thing for eight months.

Trump has stuck to the refrain no matter what has been happening with the pandemic. Since February, the President has declared at least 38 times that Covid-19 is either going to disappear or is currently disappearing.

His proclamations have been wildly inaccurate. When Trump first started making the claim in February, it was about the time the US had just suffered its very first known Covid-19 death. More than 220,000 deaths later, Trump continues to falsely claim that the virus will somehow just go away — even as the US experiences yet another surge in cases and hospitalizations.

February

You know, a lot of people think that goes away in April with the heat — as the heat comes in. Typically, that will go away in April.

President Trump
February, 10 2020
US cases begin to rise

Through Oct. 19, more than 220,000 people have died from Covid-19 in the US. With most states experiencing an alarming rise in new daily cases in recent weeks, health experts worry about a new wave hitting just as the fall flu season gets underway. Despite Trump’s claims, the pandemic shows no signs of disappearing.