White House Coronavirus Task Force
The White House Coronavirus Task Force is a United States Department of State task force that "coordinates and oversees the administration's efforts to monitor, prevent, contain, and mitigate the spread" of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).[1] The task force was established on January 29, 2020.[2] On February 26, 2020, U.S. vice president Mike Pence was named to chair the task force, and Deborah Birx was named the response coordinator.[3] Other members have been added since the initial appointments.
Background
The first known case in the United States of COVID-19 was confirmed in the state of Washington on January 20, 2020, in a 35-year-old man who had returned from Wuhan, China on January 15.[4] The White House Coronavirus Task Force was established on January 29.[2] On January 30, the WHO declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern and on January 31, the Trump administration declared a public health emergency,[5] and placed travel restrictions on entry for travellers from China.[6]
Press briefings
On March 10, 2020, The Hill reported that U.S. Senate Republicans who had attended a briefing with President Donald Trump had encouraged him to hold more briefings and to make Anthony Fauci the "face of the federal government's response" because according to an unnamed senator, "he has credibility", he "speaks with authority" and he "has respect in the medical community."[7] The role of Health and Human Services secretary Alex Azar was downsized, according to the Wall Street Journal, with Pence taking a larger role.[8]
The Task Force has livestreamed press briefings at whitehouse.gov to communicate updates, guidelines, and policy changes to the public during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic in the US.[9][10][11] On March 16, the White House began holding the task force press briefings daily,[12] but by late April the White House discussed reducing the frequency of these briefings. On April 25, there was no press briefing, and at that time no further press briefings had been scheduled.[13][14] On May 5, Pence said that the administration was discussing "what the proper time is for the task force to complete its work"; the next day, Trump said, to the contrary, that the task force would "continue on indefinitely" but would refocus on returning the nation to normal activity.[15]
As the US entered a new phase of re-opening businesses and getting back to work, Pence named five new members to the task force on May 15, 2020.[16] The task force gave a press briefing on May 15, and on May 22,[17] Birx appeared with press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. For the rest of May and into June, the task force met once or twice weekly, behind closed doors, as the White House switched to an economic message amid escalating COVID-19 cases.[18] The task force gave another press briefing on July 8.[19] Fauci said on July 10 that he had not given a briefing to Trump for two months.[20]
Members
See also
- John Fleming Assistant to the President for Planning and Implementation, and liaison to White House Chief of Staff
- Pete Gaynor, Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
- Brett P. Giroir, leading the Department of Health and Human Services' efforts to coordinate coronavirus testing
- Peter Navarro, Defense Production Act policy coordinator
- Operation Warp Speed
References
- "Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-2019)". U.S. Department of State. March 13, 2020. Archived from the original on March 8, 2020. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
- "Statement from the Press Secretary Regarding the President's Coronavirus Task Force" (Press release). White House. January 29, 2020. Archived from the original on March 3, 2020. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
- Santucci J (February 27, 2020). "What we know about the White House coronavirus task force now that Mike Pence is in charge". USA Today. Archived from the original on February 29, 2020. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
- Holshue ML, DeBolt C, Lindquist S, Lofy KH, et al. (March 2020). "First Case of 2019 Novel Coronavirus in the United States". N. Engl. J. Med. 382 (10): 929–936. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2001191. PMC 7092802. PMID 32004427.
- Aubrey A (January 31, 2020). "Trump Declares Coronavirus A Public Health Emergency And Restricts Travel From China". NPR. Archived from the original on March 4, 2020. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
- "Proclamation on Suspension of Entry as Immigrants and Nonimmigrants of Persons who Pose a Risk of Transmitting 2019 Novel Coronavirus". White House. Archived from the original on February 6, 2020. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
- Bolton A (March 10, 2020). "GOP senators tell Trump to make Fauci face of government's coronavirus response". The Hill. Archived from the original on March 17, 2020. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
- Armour S, Burton TM (March 11, 2020). "HHS Secretary Is Largely Sidelined in U.S. Effort to Battle Coronavirus". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on March 15, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2020 – via Proquest.
- McCaskill N, Kenen J, Cancryn A (March 16, 2020). "'This is a very bad one': Trump issues new guidelines to stem coronavirus spread". Politico. Archived from the original on March 16, 2020. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
- Cohen J (March 22, 2020). "'I'm going to keep pushing.' Anthony Fauci tries to make the White House listen to facts of the pandemic". Science Magazine. Archived from the original on March 23, 2020. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
- Coleman J (April 12, 2020). "White House to skip coronavirus briefing for second day in a row". TheHill.com. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
- Bump P (April 26, 2020). "13 hours of Trump: The president fills briefings with attacks and boasts, but little empathy". Washington Post. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
- Alba M, Egan L (April 25, 2020). "White House considering scaling back Trump's daily coronavirus briefings in coming weeks". NBC News. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
- Aratani L (April 25, 2020). "Trump says briefings 'not worth the effort' amid fallout from disinfectant comments". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
- Cillizza C (May 6, 2020). "Why Tuesday was the most important (and scary) day of the coronavirus fight so far". CNN. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
- "New Members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force Announced". WhiteHouse.gov (Press release). May 15, 2020. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
- Sciutto J, LeBlanc P (June 1, 2020). "Dr. Anthony Fauci hasn't spoken with Trump in two weeks". CNN. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
- Klein B (June 15, 2020). "Task force officials out of public view as White House pivots to economic message". CNN. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
- "Press Briefing by Vice President Pence and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force" (Press release). The White House. July 8, 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
- Kuchler H (July 10, 2020). "Anthony Fauci: 'We are living in the perfect storm'". Financial Times. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
- "Vice President Pence and Secretary Azar Add Key Administration Officials to the Coronavirus Task Force" (Press release). White House. March 1, 2020. Archived from the original on March 4, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
- Chalfant M (March 2, 2020). "White House adds VA secretary, CMS chief to coronavirus task force". The Hill. Archived from the original on March 3, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
External links
Wikiquote has quotations related to: White House Coronavirus Task Force |
- White House team on testing from Politico
- "Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-2019)". U.S. Department of State.