Parts Of U.S. Could Relax Some Coronavirus Mitigation Before May, Trump Says
Quotes snipped from the above article:
"I will ... be authorizing each individual governor of each individual state to implement a reopening — and a very powerful opening plan — of their state at a time and in a manner as most appropriate," Trump said.
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"I'm not going to put any pressure on any governor to open," Trump said.
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Elsewhere in the briefing, however, Trump also said that he might try to give himself a veto over the governors' plans: "If we disagree with it, we're not going to let them open," he said.
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"With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic we have deep concerns about whether America's generosity has been put to the best use possible," Trump said.
Leaders Of The Coronavirus Response Effort
From the president to public health experts, here are the officials managing the messaging:
Donald Trump
President
Leading the federal response to the pandemic
Trump restricted travel from China and declared the coronavirus a
public health emergency in January. Early on Trump
downplayed the threat of the virus, claiming the media and Democrats were trying to use it for political gain. Shifting his tone as the number of U.S. cases climbed, Trump cut off
travel from Europe, Canada and Mexico, and issued 15-day guidance to slow the spread, in part by
staying 6 feet away from people and avoiding gatherings.
Mike Pence
Vice President
Leading the White House’s coronavirus task force
Pence makes near-daily appearances in the White House briefing room to provide updates on the response. He
speaks with governors and other stakeholders to coordinate response strategies. Pence initially pledged that Americans who wanted to be tested would soon be able to do so, but he had to rein in his promise because of shortages. Pence took a
coronavirus test after an aide tested positive (Pence tested negative).
Alex Azar
Secretary of Health and Human Services
Member of the White House’s coronavirus task force
Azar was a drug company executive before he became secretary of Health and Human Services in 2018. Azar was
general counsel and deputy secretary of the department under George W. Bush. Azar ran the White House’s coronavirus task force until Trump put Pence in charge in February. He has faced criticism for delays in expanding testing for the virus, and he has bristled at suggestions by governors that there are supply shortages such as swabs and reagents needed for the tests.
Dr. Anthony Fauci
Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Member of the White House’s coronavirus task force
Fauci is one of the leading figures in the government’s coronavirus response. He is known for his straight talk during news briefings and TV interviews. Fauci has been the director of the
NIAID since 1984, overseeing responses to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, Ebola, Zika and other public health issues. Former President George W. Bush awarded Fauci the
Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2008 for his work on the AIDS epidemic.
Dr. Deborah Birx
Coronavirus task force coordinator
HIV/AIDS researcher and U.S. public health ambassador
Birx is an internationally recognized HIV/AIDS expert and
a State Department ambassador-at-large who works on global health diplomacy issues. Pence describes Birx as his “right arm” on the task force. Birx directed the CDC’s global HIV/AIDS division before becoming the U.S. global AIDS coordinator in 2014. She has consistently urged Americans,
particularly millennials, to take social distancing seriously to stem the virus.
But I definitely feel better, even with just 20 or 30 crunches on the floor.
