Trump eyeing end of coronavirus task force, switch to economic focus

The White House is looking at winding down within weeks the special inter-agency coronavirus task force that has led the response to the pandemic, and shifting the administration’s focus to the reopening of the economy.

“We are now looking at a little bit of a different form and that form is safety and opening and we’ll have a different group probably set up for that,” Trump said in Arizona, as he visited a factory that makes medical masks.

“We can’t keep our country closed for the next five years,” Trump said. “Will some people be affected? yes. Will some people be affected badly? Yes. But we have to get it opened.”

The US has the highest death toll of any country, with more than 70,000 confirmed fatalities from Covid-19, and modelling is suggesting that number could nearly double by August.

Some areas of the country are continuing to see rising caseloads, even as epicentres like New York, officials say, have benefited from mitigation efforts and are seeing their infection rates decline and daily death tolls move lower.

The administration recently shifted its messaging away from daily medical updates.

Trump has dismissed critics’ concerns about lack of testing and contact tracing, while praising his own record during the pandemic. He has been encouraging states to reopen for business, while adhering to social distancing.

Vice President Mike Pence, according to a transcript of remarks released by his office, said there were “conversations” about wrapping up the task force and that these are “all a reflection of the tremendous progress we’ve made as a country.”

The special team was constituted earlier this year to help manage the fast-moving situation as the pandemic hit US shores in earnest and began to spread, particularly in major urban areas.

The most prominent member of the task force is most likely Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

He is largely seen by the public as a trusted face in the crisis and has at times subtly contradicted Trump on scientific issues as well as managing to guide the response at key junctures.

Trump said Fauci will continue to advise him going ahead.

The president earlier confirmed the infectious disease expert will testify before the Senate, giving lawmakers the chance to ask questions on the federal government’s response to the new coronavirus.

“Doctor Fauci will be testifying in front of the Senate, and he looks forward to doing that,” Trump told reporters outside the White House before he departed for Arizona to visit a medical equipment facility.

Trump’s Republican Party holds a majority in the Senate. The president said Fauci would not go to the House of Representatives, where the rival Democrats dominate.

“They frankly want our situation to be unsuccessful, which means death,” he said, calling the opposition party “Trump haters.”

The way US congressional committees work, though, Democrats in the Senate will still be able to question Fauci. The hearing is likely to take place next week.

The president downplayed a media report which cited internal administration projections sharply raising the expected pandemic death toll.

He said the report was based on “no mitigation” but that even as states began to reopen, social distancing and other measures would remain in effect.

Fauci has been among the experts urging a cautious approach, saying that reopening too soon could see resurgent outbreaks. A lack of the needed testing capacity and contact tracing could make it harder to track a new spread.

Read also: Germany set to ease coronavirus restrictions but remain vigilant

At the same time, unemployment is at levels not seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s and there is growing unrest over financial affairs, even as polling suggests people would be wary about rushing back to previous levels of shopping and eating out.

Trump threatened to intervene in states if governors take dangerous actions.

The coronavirus outbreak is whipping the country as time winds down towards the presidential election in November, with Trump seeking a second and final term. (dpa)