Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
White House 'Filling The Stockpile' In Anticipation Of Another Virus Wave In The Fall
A White House adviser said Sunday that the Trump administration is preparing for a possible second wave in the coronavirus pandemic this fall, as 29 states and U.S. territories logged an increase in their seven-day average of new reported case numbers after many lifted restrictions in recent weeks. White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said Sunday that the Trump administration is preparing for a possible second wave, but he rejected the suggestion that a second wave has already taken hold. (Shepherd, 6/22)
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said Sunday that the Trump administration is preparing for a second wave of coronavirus infections. 鈥淲e are filling the stockpile in anticipation of a possible problem in the fall. We are doing everything we can beneath the surface, working as hard as we possibly can,鈥欌 Mr. Navarro told CNN. 鈥淵ou prepare鈥攜ou prepare for what can possibly happen. I鈥檓 not saying it鈥檚 going to happen, but of course you prepare.鈥欌 (Leary and Gershman, 6/21)
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said Sunday that the Trump administration is preparing for the possibility that a second wave of Covid-19 could hit the United States in the fall. "We are filling the stockpile in anticipation of a possible problem in the fall. We are doing everything we can beneath the surface, working as hard as we possibly can," Navarro told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union." Asked by Tapper if the administration is preparing for a second wave in the fall, Navarro replied, "Of course." (Stracqualursi, 6/21)
Public health experts warned on Sunday that the coronavirus pandemic is not going away anytime soon. They directly contradicted President Trump鈥檚 promise that the disease that has infected more than two million Americans would 鈥渇ade away鈥 and his remarks that disparaged the value of evidence from coronavirus tests. A day after Mr. Trump told a largely maskless audience at an indoor rally in Tulsa, Okla., that he had asked to 鈥渟low down the testing鈥 because it inevitably increased the number of confirmed coronavirus cases, infectious disease experts countered that the latest rise of infections in the United States is real, the country鈥檚 response to the pandemic is not working and rallies like the president鈥檚 risk becoming major spreading events. (Gorman, 6/21)
What鈥檚 all this talk about a 鈥渟econd wave鈥 of U.S. coronavirus cases? In The Wall Street Journal last week, Vice President Mike Pence wrote in a piece headlined 鈥淭here Isn鈥檛 a Coronavirus 鈥楽econd Wave鈥欌 that the nation is winning the fight against the virus. Many public health experts, however, suggest it鈥檚 no time to celebrate. About 120,000 Americans have died from the new virus and daily counts of new cases in the U.S. are the highest they鈥檝e been in more than a month, driven by alarming recent increases in the South and West. (Stobbe, 6/21)