Administration Task Force To Hold First Public Briefing In Two Months As Panel Tracks Coronavirus Spikes
The briefing will take place at HHS rather than the White House, with Vice President Mike Pence at the helm. Meanwhile, NBC News obtained the task force's internal data tracking COVID-19 sharp surges in locations around the nation, despite President Donald Trump's message that the outbreak is "going away."
NBC News:
Trump Says The Coronavirus Is 'Going Away.' His Own Task Force Disagrees.
President Donald Trump keeps spinning a tale about COVID-19 that is at odds with his own administration's disease experts and data compiled by his own coronavirus task force, which was obtained exclusively by NBC News. In Trump's telling, the deadly pandemic isn't really a serious threat to the public and rising infection rates are simply due to increased testing. "It's going away," he said Tuesday at an event in Phoenix. But on the same day, the coronavirus task force produced an internal document showing that Phoenix had the highest number of new cases among the 10 metropolitan regions where the week-over-week change in infection rates spiked the most. Arizona's biggest city had recorded 13,169 new cases over the previous seven days, accounting for a jump of 149.2 percent over the previous week's infection rate. (Allen, 6/24)
The Hill:
White House Coronavirus Task Force To Hold First Briefing In Nearly Two Months
The White House coronavirus task force will hold a press briefing on Friday, marking the first time the group has spoken on camera to the public in roughly two months. The briefing will take place at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and will be led by Vice President Pence, who chairs the task force. The announcement comes as cases are spiking in several states. (Samuels, 6/25)
CNN:
White House Coronavirus Task Force To Hold First Public Meeting In Close To Two Months As Cases Rise
The briefing will not take place at the White House, but at the Department of Health and Human Services, according to a schedule released by the White House. The public meeting comes as President Donald Trump has tried to declare the pandemic "over" despite the rising numbers, and has instead focused his administration's energy on reopening the economy. (Hoye and Kelly, 6/26)
