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Trump’s Virus Task Force Plans Press Briefing as Cases Surge

Trump’s Virus Task Force Plans Press Briefing as Cases Surge

President Donald Trump’s Coronavirus Task Force will hold its first press briefing Thursday at the White House since April amid a record surge in infections around the country.

The White House said the briefing would take place at 4 p.m. local time after a closed-door meeting of the task force earlier in the afternoon.

The U.S. is experiencing its worst surge of the virus yet. There were 148,000 new cases on Tuesday, and last Friday saw a record daily total over 190,000. U.S. deaths from the coronavirus have surpassed 250,000, including 1,425 on Tuesday. Hospitalizations are also at all-time highs.

Those numbers are likely to get worse as families gather for the Thanksgiving holiday. The virus spreads easily indoors, particularly when people are eating, talking, not wearing masks and sitting closely together.

The Trump administration has assured states they’ll have enough hospital beds and equipment to handle the surge in cases, but it isn’t advocating for additional measures to slow the virus’s spread and continues to shut out President-elect Joe Biden’s advisers.

The task force has kept a low public profile as the virus case count soared in the fall. There was an offsite briefing in July, and Trump held briefings on the virus over the summer.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.