White House Coronavirus Task Force
The White House Coronavirus Task Force was the United States Department of State task force during the Trump administration, the goal of the Task Force was to coordinate and oversee the administration's efforts to monitor, prevent, contain, and mitigate the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).[1] Also referred to as the President's Coronavirus Task Force, it was established on January 29, 2020, with Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar as chair.[2] 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.[3]
Not to be confused with White House COVID-19 Response Team.The task force was succeeded by the White House COVID-19 Response Team under the Biden administration.
Background[edit]
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.[4] The White House Coronavirus Task Force was established on January 29, with Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar as its chair.[2] 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,[5] and placed travel restrictions on entry by non-citizens who had recently been in China.[6] On February 26, U.S. vice president Mike Pence replaced Azar as chair.[3]
Press briefings[edit]
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".[25] The role of Health and Human Services secretary Alex Azar was downsized, according to The Wall Street Journal, with Pence taking a larger role.[26]
The Task Force livestreamed press briefings at whitehouse.gov to communicate updates, guidelines, and policy changes to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.[27][28][29] On March 16, the White House began holding the task force press briefings daily,[30]often two hours long,[31] 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.[32][33] 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 that the task force would "continue on indefinitely" but would refocus on returning the nation to normal activity.[34]
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.[8] The task force gave a press briefing on May 15, and on May 22,[35] 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.[36] The task force gave another press briefing on July 8.[37] Fauci said on July 10 that he had not given a briefing to Trump for two months, and had not seen him in person since June 2.[38]