The newspaper’s cover headline, which reads “U.S. Deaths Near 100,000, an Incalculable Loss”, has divided Twitter, with confused users questioning how The New York Times predicts tomorrow’s fatalities, while others blamed US President Donald Trump for a weak response to the virus crisis in the country.
“Numbers alone cannot possibly measure the impact of the coronavirus on America, whether it is the number of patients treated, jobs interrupted or lives cut short,” the newspaper cover story reads. “As the country nears a grim milestone of 100,000 deaths attributed to the virus, The New York Times scoured obituaries and death notices of the victims. The 1,000 people here reflect just l percent of the toll. None were mere numbers”.
At the time of this article the post of the NY Times cover page has been retweeted over 76k times.
A great part of users described their feelings of devastation and heartbreak, sending condolences to those many families that have suffered the loss of a beloved.
Some netizens accused the newspaper of being “sensationalist” for its front-page story, shared on social media.
Other users noted that while Americans are dying from the virus, the nation's president, Donald Trump, is enjoying golfing. Some New Yorkers put the blame on Governor Andrew Cuomo for the high rate of COVID-19 fatalities in the Empire State.
The United States has currently recorded 1,621,658 COVID-19 infections and 97,048 deaths, according to data collated and presented by the Johns Hopkins University.