President Trump apparently, told journalist Bob Woodward in a recorded interview that despite knowing how "deadly" and serious the coronavirus pandemic would be for Americans and the world, he wanted to "play it down" and wanted to continue to do so in order to avoid people "panicking."
Joe Biden reacted to those tapes at a rally in Michigan yesterday calling it "disgusting" that Trump knew how deadly this virus was and "chose not to do anything about it." “He knew how deadly it was. It was much more deadly than the flu," Biden thundered. "He knew and purposely played it down. He knowingly and willingly lied about the threat it posed to country for months.”
That, of course, is debatable - and depends largely on your political persuasion. Still, for all of Biden's upset, he did confuse the the number of confirmed cases and deaths from COVID-19 in Michigan as being the numbers for the military. His campaign later clarified those numbers.
Source: C-SPAN