Fauci cautions against 'false complacency' in public rebuke of Trump

WASHINGTON - A top US infectious diseases expert warned on Tuesday against a "false narrative" of a falling COVID-19-related death rate in a rare public rebuke of US President Donald Trump.

"By allowing yourself to get infected because of risky behavior, you are part of the propagation of the outbreak," said Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, during a live stream event.

"There are so many other things that are very dangerous and bad about this virus. Don't get yourself into false complacency," Fauci said.

The remarks came as the Trump administration and the president himself continued to tout alleged progress the United States has made in tackling the COVID-19 outbreak by citing a falling US mortality rate.

In a recent tweet, Trump even claimed that the United States has "the lowest" mortality rate for COVID-19 in the world.

However, according to CNN's fact-checking, among the 20 countries most affected by COVID-19, at least 14 have lower death rates than the United States.