'Hoax', 'everything under control' and 'pandemic': A timeline of how Donald Trump denied coronavirus outbreak

US President Donald Trump has faced a lot of flak for downplaying the impact of the novel coronavirus in the country, with statements such as COVID-19 is Democrats "own hoax", "everything is under control" and shrugging off the concerns of a possible outbreak in the country.

Now when more than 13,000 cases are reported in the country with over 200 deaths, Trump is facing a lot of ire. Here's a timeline of Trump's repeated dismissals of the virus threat.

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January 22

Trump was present at Davos in Switzerland for the World Economic Forumsummit. He was asked of his reactions after the first case was confirmed in the US. Trump replied, "We do have a plan and we think it is going to be handled very well. We've already handled it very well. The CDC
(Center for Disease Control) has been terrific. Very great professionals and we're in very good shape and I think China is in very good shape also."

February 10

When more than a dozen cases were confirmed in the US, Trump said that as heat will approach in April, "that (COVID-19) will go away". "Looks like by April, you know in theory when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away. Hope that's true, Trump said.

WHO later said that there is no evidence "that this virus would behave differently in different temperatures".

February 26

The US president praised his administration for taking actions because of which Americans remain at a lower risk of getting infected. "Because of all we've done, the risk to the American people remains very low," Trump said at a time when number of cases jumped to 60. He also announced that Vice President Mike Pence would be working with doctors and specialists and reiterated that the administration is "doing very well".

February 27

"We have done an incredible job. We're going to continue. It's going to disappear one day. It's like a miracle, the US president said.

February 28

Trump said that the situation of the outbreak is "getting better" "Almost everybody that we see is getting better. And it could be everybody too," Trump said.The US president also said that thirty five thousand people on average die from the flu each year and the US has lost nobody because of
coronavirus so far. "And you wonder the press is in hysteria mode," Trump added.

March 2

When the number of cases in the US crossed the figure of 100, Trump at a rally said that a vaccine for the disease would be there soon. “We had a great meeting today with a lot of the great companies, and they’re going to have vaccines, I think, relatively soon,” he said.

March 4

A day earlier WHO director-general said that 3.4 per cent of the reported cases is the fatality rate of COVID-19. Trump called this percentage "false", adding, ''I think the number, personally, I would say the number is way under 1 per cent''.

He also assured Americans that it's safe to fly in America and most of the other countries.

March 6

Trump credited himself of understanding a lot about the disease, adding "maybe I have a natural ability. Maybe I should have done that instead of running for president".

March 7

When all the states in US confirmed at least one case, Trump said, "No, I’m not concerned at all. No, I’m not. No, we’ve done a great job".

March 11

When WHO officially declared, the corona outbreak as a pandemic, Trump said, "We will be suspending all travel from Europe to the United States for the next 30 days." He also urged Americans to stay at home if they were sick. He also said that soon he would be declaring emergency fund
to tackle the outbreak. However, Trump declared the financial crisis as "temporary".

March 17

Trump completely shifted from his earlier statements. "'I’ve always known this is a real this is a pandemic,"the US president said. “I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.”