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Senior Trump administration officials in June privately warned seven states about dangerous coronavirus outbreaks that put them in the highest risk "red zone" while publicly dismissing concerns about a second wave of Covid-19, according to White House documents House Democrats released on Monday. The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis released eight weeks of previously confidential reports obtained from the White House coronavirus task force that Democrats said showed the administration acting over the summer to willfully cover up public health risks for political gain. (Miranda Ollstein, 8/31)

The reports reveal the full extent of the pandemic in recent months and urge measures to contain it in individual states. The White House shared this information with governors, but kept the reports from the public. The Center for Public Integrity has obtained and published dozens of the state reports this summer. In the most recent report released by lawmakers, dated Aug. 9, 20 states were in the “red zone” for coronavirus cases, meaning they had more than 100 new cases of the virus per 100,000 residents in the prior week. (Essley Whyte, 8/31)

States and counties in the "red zone" had more than 100 cases per 100,000 residents, and more than 10 percent of new tests were positive. The administration privately issued the reports to states, and held periodic calls and meetings with state and local officials, but none of it was available to the public. The White House has insisted that the response to the pandemic be led by states, with the federal government providing only guidance. Democrats on the subcommittee said the reports show the White House has been deliberately covering up the true extent of the pandemic. (Weixel, 8/31)

The task force reports recommended that some states implement mask mandates to curb the pandemic’s spread, but the Republican governors of those states refused. The task force started urging Florida to “ensure public use of masks in all current and evolving hot spots” on June 29 and repeated that recommendation in subsequent reports, but Gov. Ron DeSantis refused to mandate masks. Throughout July, Florida became one of the worst hot spots in the nation, repeatedly setting grim records for new cases and deaths on its way to becoming the state with the most cases per capita. (Saksa, 8/31)

The White House Coronavirus Task Force issues weekly reports to governors about the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic but doesn’t make those reports public, keeping key county-level data and federal advice to states out of sight.  The Center for Public Integrity is collecting the weekly reports for all 50 states in a new document repository, which will be updated as information comes in. (Essley Whyte, 8/20)