Donald Trump Jr said that COVID-19 deaths are down to 'almost nothing' as 1,000 new deaths recorded

• Donald Trump Jr claimed that COVID-19 deaths had fallen to "almost nothing" in an interview with Fox News on Thursday.
• Trump Jr defended the coronavirus policies of his father, President Donald Trump, as infection rates and deaths again climb.
• Though the survival rate for COVID-19 patients has improved, deaths are projected to continue increasing.

Donald Trump Jr claimed that deaths from COVID-19 were down to "almost nothing," on the same day, 1,060 new deaths from the disease were recorded.

In an interview with Fox News on Thursday, Trump Jr, who is campaigning for his father, President Donald Trump's reelection campaign, he claimed, falsely, that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention focused on infection rates because the number of deaths was not increasing.

"I put it on my Instagram a couple of days ago, because I went through the CDC, because I kept hearing about new infections," he said. "Why are they talking — why aren't they talking about deaths? Oh, Oh! Because the numbers are almost nothing because we've gotten control of things and we understand how it works."

Trump Jr's claims are false, with the US recording a surge in COVID-19 cases and a steadily increasing number of deaths.

According to data from the CDC, a record 81,599 new COVID-19 cases were recorded on Thursday. Doctors in the US have noted improved survival rates for seriously ill COVID-19 patients, reported The New York Times, as treatment methods for the disease have improved. The hospitals are not as full, and patients are being treated more quickly after becoming infected.

However, though survival rates have improved, the number of deaths is still projected to accelerate as infection rates rise. Studies cited by the CDC found that weekly deaths from COVID-19 could surpass 6,000 by November 7, with the cumulative total projected to exceed 250,000 by November 21.

Trump Jr, like his father, has consistently sought to downplay the impact of the coronavirus.

With Election Day only four days away, Trump's faltering response to the crisis is believed to a key reason why he trails Democratic challenger Joe Biden in the polls.