White House Coronavirus Task Force


The White House Coronavirus Task Force is a United States Department of State task force that "coordinates and oversees the administration's efforts to monitor, prevent, contain, and mitigate the spread" of coronavirus disease 2019. The task force was established on January 29, 2020. On February 26, 2020, U.S. vice president Mike Pence was named to chair the task force, and Deborah Birx was named the response coordinator. Other members have been added since the initial appointments.

Background

The first known case in the United States of COVID-19 was confirmed in the state of Washington on January 20, 2020, in a 35-year-old man who had returned from Wuhan, China on January 15. The White House Coronavirus Task Force was established on January 29. On January 30, the WHO declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern and on January 31, the Trump administration declared a public health emergency, and placed travel restrictions on entry for travellers from China.

Press briefings

On March 10, 2020, The Hill reported that U.S. Senate Republicans who had attended a briefing with President Donald Trump had encouraged him to hold more briefings and to make Anthony Fauci the "face of the federal government's response" because according to an unnamed senator, "he has credibility", he "speaks with authority" and he "has respect in the medical community." The role of Health and Human Services secretary Alex Azar was downsized, according to the Wall Street Journal, with Pence taking a larger role.
The Task Force has livestreamed press briefings at whitehouse.gov to communicate updates, guidelines, and policy changes to the public during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic in the US. On March 16, the White House began holding the task force press briefings daily, but by late April the White House discussed reducing the frequency of these briefings. On April 25, there was no press briefing, and at that time no further press briefings had been scheduled. On May 5, Pence said that the administration was discussing "what the proper time is for the task force to complete its work"; the next day, Trump said, to the contrary, that the task force would "continue on indefinitely" but would refocus on returning the nation to normal activity.
As the US entered a new phase of re-opening businesses and getting back to work, Pence named five new members to the task force on May 15, 2020. The task force gave a press briefing on May 15, and on May 22, Birx appeared with press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. For the rest of May and into June, the task force met once or twice weekly, behind closed doors, as the White House switched to an economic message amid escalating COVID-19 cases. The task force gave another press briefing on July 8. Fauci said on July 10 that he had not given a briefing to Trump for two months.

Members