Officials in Trump's administration say, despite public denial, the president is actually pushing for a herd immunity strategy for COVID-19

• The White House is reportedly still pushing for a herd immunity police to address the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the denials, The Daily Beast reported.

• Public health officials have repeatedly said the approach would cost thousands of unnecessary infections and deaths.

• Herd immunity is when a population has enough people who are immune to a virus it slows the spread of transmission.

Three officials in President Donald Trump's White House said the administration, despite publicly denying it, is actually pushing for a herd immunity strategy to the COVID-19 pandemic, although it could kill thousands of Americans unnecessarily, The Daily Beast reported.

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Three senior health officials told The Daily Beast that the administration is taking the step to push that strategy into policy despite public health experts and doctors warning that the strategy would result in many more people getting sick and dying.

Public health officials have repeatedly said that a herd immunity approach would be dangerous and potentially catastrophic.

"This is simply wrong," Marc Lipsitch, an epidemiologist at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, said on Twitter on Monday. "Herd immunity is not a strategy or a solution. It is surrender to a preventable virus."