As President Trump touts progress amid the coronavirus pandemic in written briefings in messages this week, leading members of the coronavirus task force are privately and publicly expressing concern about burgeoning outbreaks across the country .
Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday that the United States “is certainly not at the end of the game,” with a series of baseball metaphors.
“I’m not even sure we’re halfway there. I mean, obviously, if you want to score, I don’t want to be too cute about it, but we’re certainly not winning the game right now, we’re not leading it, ”Fauci said.
And in audio obtained by nonprofit journalism from the Center for Public Integrity, the coordinator of the coronavirus task force, Dr. Deborah Birx, privately told a group of state and local health officials about an increase troubling in cases in a number of cities, warning officials to take mitigation measures as soon as they see signs of increasing percent positivity.
“There are cities that are lagging behind and we have new increases in Miami, New Orleans, Las Vegas, San Jose, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Columbus and Baltimore, so we are tracking this very closely. We are working with state officials to make sure we are responding together, but when you see the test positivity increase, that’s when mitigation efforts begin, ”he said during the Wednesday call.
Birx continued: “I know it may seem small, and you can say it only went from five to five and a half, and let’s wait and see what happens. If you wait another three or four, even five days, you will begin to see a dramatic increase in cases. So finding and locating those very early people is really critical. ”
Birx told officials in places that they experience increased test positivity to “(make) sure they are aggressive with mitigation efforts,” noting that the administration provides governors with a weekly report with clear recommendations for mitigation.
One of those reports, also obtained by the IPC last week, recommended that 18 states in the “red zone” defined by the casework group should reverse reopening measures amid increasing cases. Those reports are not made public.
Birx told officials that there are “small flashes of decreased test positivity on many of our meters in Texas and, of course, Phoenix,” but the task force has “deep concerns about specific meters, of course. in Florida, and the spread of the epidemic in California in the Central Valley. “
A White House spokesman said Birx’s comments were in line with Trump’s informative comments on Wednesday.
“This does not deviate from what the president said yesterday. The virus is still with us, we have some states and metropolitan areas with major outbreaks, and we must take this incredibly seriously, “Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere told CNN.
But Trump selected some of the most hopeful aspects of the pandemic in his briefings, and declined to appear alongside his top public health officials, telling reporters that appearing on the podium alone was “a very concise way to do it.” .
.
