Vice President Mike Pence added five members to the White House Coronavirus Task Force on Friday, further bolstering a group that was rumored to be winding down last week.
President Donald Trump now says the task force will continue on “indefinitely,” despite previously saying Dr. Deborah Birx and Dr. Anthony Fauci would maintain their current roles, but the task force would be officially phased out.(RELATED: Democratic Witness In House Coronavirus Hearing Pleaded Guilty In 2019 Sex Abuse Case)
The five members include Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins, and two additional members of the Food and Drug administration and the Health Resources and Services administration.
“Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and the efforts of the American people, we’ve saved lives, Slowed the Spread, and states are Opening Up Again,” Pence said in a statement. “The new members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force will add expertise in the fields of vaccines and therapeutics as well as worker safety as the Task Force renews its focus on getting Americans back to work.”
VP Pence added 5 new people to the Coronavirus task force:
-Sec of Ag Perdue
-Sec of Labor Scalia
-NIH Director Dr Collins
-FDA Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Dr Marks
-Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration,Thomas Engels— Meridith McGraw (@meridithmcgraw) May 15, 2020
The task force continues to coordinate reopening procedures with state governments. Dozens of states have begun the process of reopening, which will happen in three phases. Phase one allows restaurants, gyms and entertainment centers to reopen at reduced capacity and with an emphasis on social distancing.
Fauci has said that Americans will be able to attend major sporting events by the third phase, albeit with stadiums at reduced capacity.