The White House Coronavirus Task Force has become all but invisible as officials pivot hard to drawing a line under the crisis to focus on reopening businesses, even as several states record an increase in COVID-19 cases.
It has not held a briefing since April 27 and now meets only once a week.
Its members have dialed back media appearances. Instead, Vice President Mike Pence, who heads the task force, will travel to Pennsylvania on Friday as part of the “Great American Comeback Tour” with the Trump-allied America First Policies.
Officials say it is part of a natural realignment. After jumping from crisis to crisis, the time for daily updates has passed, and the work of the task force is now focused on the future, such as reopening schools, they say, while states take on the bulk of the work.
But the danger is that the public becomes complacent even as the virus still claims hundreds of lives every day, according to crisis communications experts.
Chris Rosica, president of Rosica Communications, said opening the country did not mean the national emergency was over.
“It’s really important to have a consistent face, persona that has been involved all along, whether it’s Pence or Fauci, to be the voice communicating important information as the country reopens,” he told the Washington Examiner.
“We have to open up. That requires a great many people overcoming their fears, which warrants a consistent face and voice that people can trust.”
Almost 2 million cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in the United States, according to a tally maintained by Johns Hopkins University, with a death toll of more than 112,000.
And it is not over, according to two of the leading officials on the task force.
In a conference call with governors this week, Dr. Deborah Birx said the number of cases per day had fallen from about 30,000 in April to 21,000 now. But California, Arizona, and North Carolina were seeing an increase in positive test results.
“That makes us quite concerned,” she said, according to a recording obtained by the Daily Beast.
Dr. Anthony Fauci has also warned of the impact of widespread Black Lives Matter protests as a vehicle for spreading the virus.
During a virtual appearance at a Biotechnology Innovation Organization conference on Tuesday, he said: “In a period of four months, it has devastated the whole world. And it isn’t over yet.”
He was a frequent cable television guest during April but made just four appearances in May.
Josh Sharfstein, vice dean at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said there was a need for a more clear and consistent federal role.
“The task force could help support such a role by coordinating across agencies and departments,” he said. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should play a lead role in speaking to the nation.”
Devin O’Malley, a spokesman for the vice president’s coronavirus efforts, said the White House press secretary had frequently addressed the issue in her briefings. But he did not rule out further appearances by the task force.
“There’s the possibility of press briefings in the future,” he said.
At its most recent meeting on Tuesday, the task force heard that the number of daily deaths had been below 600 for the past four or five days.
Meanwhile, President Trump and his vice president are focused on demonstrating a return to business as usual.
The president will travel to Texas on Thursday, and his campaign says he will be resuming rallies within a matter of days as he looks to put the crisis behind him.
“So, we want the continued blanket lockdown to end for the states,” he said as he unveiled positive jobs figures at the White House last week.
“We may have some embers or some ashes, or we may have some flames coming, but we’ll put them out. We’ll stomp them out.”
Pence has dined at burger bars with the governors of Florida and Georgia in very public displays of support for their fast pace of reopening.
And on Friday, he will fly to Pittsburgh to meet faith leaders and to visit Oberg Industries, makers of precision components and tooling.
It is the first part of a Great American Comeback tour to highlight policies Trump allies believe will drive economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The latest jobs report only highlights how eager Americans are to get back to work and open their businesses,” said Brian Walsh, president of America First Policies, a nonprofit organization that promotes initiatives backed by the Trump campaign. “America First Policies has laid out a ‘Great American Comeback’ agenda that includes important steps Congress can take to help supercharge our economic recovery.”
