The briefing comes as multiple states have seen a resurgence in COVID-19 cases, with hot spots in California, Florida and Texas. The U.S. set a new daily record on Thursday after nearly 40,000 new cases of coronavirus were reported, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The previous high of 36,400 new infections was back on April 24 when the outbreak was at its peak and the majority of the country was under stricter lockdown restrictions.
The meeting will take place at the Department of Health and Human Services, instead of the White House, and led by Vice President Mike Pence, who chairs the task force. President Donald Trump is not expected to attend the briefing.
You can stream it live on the White House’s Youtube page.
The task force has been publicly absent after the White House paused near-daily briefings on April 27. Key members, including Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci and White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx, have been much less prominent than they were in the early weeks of the global health crisis.
Appearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday, Fauci said the last time he spoke to the president was two and a half weeks ago.
Despite the rising number of cases, Pence has said fears of a second wave of the virus were “overblown,” and Trump has continued to declare the coronavirus pandemic “over” as he has pushed for the economy’s reopening.
However, some states have had to stop businesses from reopening after a massive spike in positive cases.
On Friday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott scaled back on the state’s reopening and announced new closures for businesses.
The day before, Abbott halted Texas’s reopening plan moments after issuing an executive order suspending elective surgeries in four counties to ensure hospital bed availability. Texas reported a record-breaking 5,996 new coronavirus cases on Thursday.
Similarly, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced the sunshine state would not be transitioning to the third phase of reopening.
There has also been a rising number of cases in young people.
In Florida, the median age of residents who test positive for COVID-19 has dropped from 65 to 35, while people aged 20 to 44 account for nearly half of all cases in Arizona.
On Thursday, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Robert Redfield said the number of infections in the U.S. is far greater than the reported count.
“Our best estimate right now is that, for every case that was reported, there actually were 10 other infections,” Redfield said at a media briefing.
