[ad_1]
WASHINGTON: White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said on Sunday (October 25) that the United States will not be able to “control the pandemic,” amid a surge in COVID-19 cases across the country and a new outbreak in the White House. .
The United States has seen the highest number of new COVID-19 cases in the past two days, keeping the pandemic a major issue in the elections as Vice President Mike Pence travels the country to campaign despite the fact that his close associates tested positive.
The US reported 79,852 new infections on Saturday, close to the previous day’s record of 84,244 new cases. Hospitalizations are also on the rise, reaching a two-month high and deaths are trending upward, according to a Reuters tally.
During an interview with CNN, Meadows admitted that “we are not going to control the pandemic,” which he said can only be done through “vaccines, therapies and other areas of mitigation.”
When asked why the administration could not control the virus, he replied: “Because it is a contagious virus like the flu.”
He then qualified that, saying, “We are making efforts to contain it.”
READ: As COVID-19 hits changing states, Biden and Trump show stark contrast
Democrat Joe Biden’s running mate Kamala Harris was asked during a campaign stop in Michigan about Meadows’ comments and said: “They’re admitting defeat, and I’ve been saying that, and Joe Biden has been. saying from the beginning. “
He criticized Meadows for comparing the coronavirus to the flu, according to a report from the group.
“This is the biggest failure of any presidential administration in the history of the United States,” he said.
Biden and Harris have been criticizing US President Donald Trump for his handling of the pandemic, which has seen the United States suffer about a fifth of the world’s total deaths, even though its population is only four percent of the total. .
The pandemic, which has put millions of Americans out of work, remains front and center in the presidential race.
The disease has also penetrated deep into the White House itself.
Three weeks after Trump was hospitalized with COVID-19, a spokesman announced Saturday that Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, had tested positive.
The vice president’s spokesman said Pence and his wife tested negative, adding that Pence would continue to cross the country in the final days of the campaign.
The White House cited Pence’s status as an “essential worker” as justification for his campaign trip despite his exposure to Short.
LEE: Trump says he is ‘immune’ to COVID-19
CNN interviewer Jake Tapper lobbied Meadows about Pence, who heads the White House coronavirus task force, apparently flaunting federal Centers for Disease Control guidelines by traveling and not self-quarantining after exposure to Short.
“I can tell you that he’s wearing a mask and he’s going to wear it today,” Meadows said. “Obviously when you have an exposure you have to take additional mitigating factors.”
Harris stayed out of the election campaign briefly after a senior adviser tested positive.
CHECK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments
Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram
