The director of the National Economic Council, Larry Kudlow, outside the White House on May 15.
Drew Angerer / Getty Images
The top three most populous states in the US posted their highest daily totals of new coronavirus cases on Wednesday. California announced more than 7,000, while Florida and Texas announced around 5,500 each. The “positivity rate” of tests in these states is increasing, which means that the increase in cases discovered is not explained by increased availability of evidence; In Florida and Texas, positivity rates have roughly doubled in the past week and tripled in the past month. The two governors of those states have been frank about keeping as many businesses and public spaces open as possible despite recommendations from public health experts; neither state requires residents to wear masks in public. Last week, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has begun to emphasize the urgency of wearing masks to stop the spread of the virus in bars, luxury stores and nail salons that have been open to Texans in the past. month. (Abbott had previously said that he personally recommended wearing masks, but his talking points on the subject included the warning that demand anyone wearing one would be a violation of “freedom”)
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow referred to the situation Thursday morning on CNBC:
A second wave is not coming. They are just hot spots. They send equipment from CDC, we have testing procedures, we have diagnostics, we have PPE. And I really think it’s a very good situation.
Kudlow also spoke to reporters in person at the White House, saying “we are going to have hot spots, no doubt,” and that “we just have to live with it.”
This is what the United States daily case count line chart looks like today:
It is literally another wave! This is what a child would draw if you asked him to draw two waves.
Kudlow’s previous highlight as a White House official was the February 25 interview in which he said the coronavirus had been “contained” in the US according to the Northeastern University model quoted in a Thursday image From the New York Times on the spread of the pandemic, the number of undetected cases in the country increased from approximately 2,000 to approximately 32,000 between February 15 and March 1.
On Thursday, Kudlow also said that the administration will not respond to rising numbers by encouraging another national blockade, which speaks of its motive for minimizing the pandemic, that is, that it believes it is its job to advance the interests of “the economy” as defined. by the short-term front-line indicators, which are damaged when companies close. But around the same time, Texas Governor Greg Abbott was busy announcing a “pause” in the reopening of the state, which will not be good for sales or employment. This impossibility, of achieving a full economic recovery without a full recovery of public health, is a problem that almost all officials in the U.S., except for Trump’s hardliners, saw coming. But if Kudlow’s press tour was an indication, the White House’s official position is that it would still prefer not to acknowledge reality.
