Trump reportedly asked Dr Anthony Fauci whether it was possible to allow the coronavirus to 'wash over' the US

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

• President Trump considered allowing the novel coronavirus to "wash over" the US, The Washington Post reported Saturday.
• At the time some experts believed that the best way to deal with the crisis was to allow "herd immunity" to build.
• But Trump's top scientific adviser, Dr Anthony Fauci, warned the president that the policy would mean "many people would die."
• The US acted in a slower and more piecemeal way to the coronavirus crisis, and currently has more cases than any other country in the world. 
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President Donald Trump weighed allowing the novel coronavirus to "wash over" the US as he considered strategies for dealing with the growing crisis in March, The Washington Post reported. 

In a Situation Room meeting on March 14 — the same day Trump extended his travel ban to the UK and the Republic of Ireland in a bid to slow the spread of the pandemic — Trump reportedly suggested allowing the US to develop "herd immunity."

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