US president Donald Trump has reversed course on his decision to wind down the White House coronavirus task force, announcing that its work will continue "indefinitely".
His comments come a day after vice-president Mike Pence and the president confirmed that the task force led by immunologists Deborah Birx and Anthony Fauci would be disbanded.
Instead, the White House advisory group will focus on “safety and opening up our country again”, Mr Trump said, as he argued that the US economy needed to reopen.
Asked about the change of heart during an Oval Office event yesterday to mark National Nurses Day, Mr Trump said that the task force had done “a great job” and was “very respected” by the public.
“I thought we could wind it down sooner. But I had no idea how popular the task force is until actually yesterday when I started talking about winding down.”
Nonetheless, he stressed that “at a certain point we won’t need the task force”, adding that he would announce two or three additions to the group next week.
The White House task force has been the cornerstone of the Trump administration’s response to Covid-19, but there have been signs in recent days that its influence was waning. Mr Trump has cancelled the daily task force briefings, though he has given regular media press briefings personally.
As states across the US began to reopen, Mr Trump reiterated his view that the lockdown should end.
“I don’t think people will stand for it...The country won’t stand for it. It’s not sustainable,” he said.
Pent-up demand
Predicting that the US economy will rebound in the fourth quarter, he said: “I think next year is going to be an incredibly year economically,” arguing that there is “tremendous” pent-up demand, and pointing to the recovery of the stock market last month.
He also called on schools to reopen. “I would like to see schools open wherever possible,” he said, though he said that teachers over 60, especially with heart conditions or diabetes, “should not be teaching school for a while”.
As the death toll in the US from coronavirus passed 70,000, Mr Trump hit out at China, the country where the virus was first reported. "This is worse than Pearl Harbour. This is worse than the World Trade Centre. There's never been an attack like this and it should have never happened," he said. "It could have been stopped at the source. It could have been stopped in China… and it wasn't."
Mr Trump’s sharp dismissal of China comes amid expectations that the US may announce some retaliatory measures against Beijing over the outbreak of the virus.
China tensions
Earlier on Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asserted that China "could have prevented the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide".
“They had a choice,” he said. “But instead, instead China covered up the outbreak in Wuhan.”
"Its National Health Commission ordered virus samples destroyed on January 3rd. China 'disappeared' brave Chinese citizens who raised alarms. It deployed its propaganda organs to denounce those who politely called for simple transparency," he said, noting that some countries "are starting to understand the risk of doing business with the Chinese Communist Party. "
The US has the highest rate of Covid-19 infections in the world, with 1.2 million cases now reported. Speaking at the White House event on Wednesday, task force leader Dr Birx said that while the mortality rate across the US is going down, “we continue to watch Chicago very closely”. “Boston and Philadelphia are still working through very difficult times,” she said.
