White House to 'reconfigure' coronavirus task force with an emphasis on reopening the country
Hmm I wonder what that means?
The White House will add more figures to its coronavirus task force before the end of the week, according to senior administration officials, as it enters the crucial phase of trying to reopen the country safely.
The decision follows President Trump’s announcement last week that he would keep and expand the task force after officials and Vice President Mike Pence said its work would be winding down.
The president has been under pressure from conservatives to reduce the influence of scientists on the panel, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the country’s leading infectious disease experts, who are accused of being too cautious in lifting social distancing restrictions.
A senior administration official said the additions would mark a “reconfiguring” and a new step in the White House response.
“There was an initial phase that was more focused on border elements and what are you doing with flights, what are you doing with cruise ships, and how do we do the best to delay its arrival here? The second phase was really more defined by healthcare experts and the strategy to mitigate it and slow the spread,” said the official.
“And now, I think we are sort of entering a new phase, which is, 'How do you now safely reopen?'”
The members of the task force have become less visible in the past two weeks since Trump ended the daily coronavirus briefings.
Some of the behind-the-scenes tensions were, however, exposed this week when members gave evidence before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Fauci responded cautiously when he was asked about schools reopening in the fall, likely before a vaccine is available.
“I don't have an easy answer to that,” he said. “I mean, we just have to see on a step-by-step basis, as we get into the period of time with the fall about reopening the schools, exactly where we will be in the dynamics of the outbreak.”
Later in the day, Trump called that an “unacceptable answer.”
“I think you should absolutely open the schools,” he said during a meeting with the governors of North Dakota and Colorado at the White House. “I don’t consider our country coming back if the schools are closed.”
A second official said the new focus was based on data that infections were declining in a number of hot spots.
“The administration received a lot of unnecessary and unwarranted criticism that we’re not focused on the future, and I think that’s wrong,” he said.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house-to-reconfigure-coronavirus-task-force-with-an-emphasis-on-reopening-the-country