President Trump touted his administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday afternoon, telling reporters: “Everything will be fine and it’s working.”
At his second press conference in two days later announcing monday The president gave an update on the state of the virus’s spread across the country, on tests and therapies to treat COVID-19.
The appearance of Mr. Trump occurred as coronavirus Cases continue to increase in several states. He said the administration was monitoring an increase in cases in the south and southwest, noting that “cases are increasing very sharply” across the western hemisphere.
Trump commented that Mexico had also seen a recent increase in coronavirus cases and praised the miles of border wall between the US and Mexico, claiming that the wall had managed to block people from crossing the border.
“It was really meant for a different purpose, but it worked very well,” Trump said of the wall.
Trump reiterated that he wanted to see schools reopen in the fall and said he would feel “comfortable” with sending his own son and grandchildren to school in the fall.
“I would like to see schools open. Open 100%,” Trump said, adding that children have “very strong immune systems.” He stated that children do not usually contract the virus, and that if they do, they would not transmit it to the most vulnerable family members.
“They don’t bring him home with them,” Trump said. Some studies have shown that children are less likely to transmit the virus to adults, but others have shown that transmission from child to child is more common, according to an NPR report. A new survey by the Center for Public Affairs Associated Press-NORC released Wednesday found that only 1 in 10 Americans believe daycare, preschool, or K-12 schools should open this fall without restrictions.
The president also repeated a call for Americans to wear a mask, practice social distancing, and wash their hands frequently. Trump has changed his message about the importance of wearing face covers in recent days, tweeted a photo of himself wearing a mask on Monday and said Tuesday that the masks “have an impact.”
“Whether you like the mask or not, they have an impact,” Trump said during his briefing on Tuesday. Later he added that “he will use it with pleasure, no problem.” The President largely resisted wearing a mask in public for months and had previously downplayed the importance of the masks, noting in a interview with CBS News last week that health experts initially recommended that Americans don’t wear face covers.
He also stated that “the rate of positive results nationwide is starting to decrease and is currently at 8.8%, compared to over 16% at its peak in April.”
“It’s going down. It’s going down pretty fast,” he said.
Trump was not accompanied by any member of the coronavirus special force on Wednesday. He said “all relationships are good” with medical experts, and stated that members of the coronavirus task force are “giving me everything they know, and I’m giving them the information.” He also appeared on the podium alone during his briefing on Tuesday, although he said the task force member, Dr. Deborah Birx, was “just outside” as she spoke.
He also said that remdesivir “has been shown to be excellent,” suggesting that it has helped reduce the virus’s death rate. Trump said the administration is “working with all states to guarantee the supply of remdesivir for early intervention in the case.”
On Tuesday, Trump announced a partnership with Pfizer to produce 100 million doses of a vaccine by December.
The United States has seen nearly 4 million confirmed cases of coronavirus, and more than 142,000 people in the country have died from the virus, according to a count by Johns Hopkins University.
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