Biden administration officials recently tried to calculate the number of daily COVID-19 deaths Americans would “tolerate,” Politico reports.
Three people familiar with the administration’s discussions told the news outlet that a target of 200 or fewer Americans was considered before officials decided not to use it in pandemic planning.
The sources, who were granted anonymity to speak freely, described the conversations as exploratory, according to Politico.
Less than 200 deaths a day would equal approximately 73,000 deaths per year, which is slightly more than the number lost during a bad flu season.
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After announcing the end of the pandemic last summer, only to have the delta and omicron variants appear, officials have been hesitant to publicize any metric, especially as the virus continues to mutate.
“They don’t want to say that it’s tolerable for 200 Americans a day to die,” one of the three people familiar with the matter told Politico.
According to the outlet, the source personally discussed the number with administration officials.
One of the sources involved in the discussions last year said it was difficult to determine what the American people would “tolerate.” Continue reading at Newsmax.