US task force leader says pandemic in new phase

White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx participates in a roundtable on donating plasma at the American Red Cross national headquarters on Thursday, July 30, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

A man prays with only a few other parishioners as a measure to prevent the spread of COVID19 during Mass at the Our Lady of Consolation Parish on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020, in Quezon city, Philippines. Coronavirus infections in the Philippines continues to surge Sunday as medical groups declared the country was waging a losing battle against the contagion and asked the president to reimpose a lockdown in the capital. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Parishioners wearing masks as a measure to prevent the spread of COVID19 pray during a Mass at the Our Lady of Consolation Parish on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020, in Quezon city, Philippines. Coronavirus infections in the Philippines continues to surge Sunday as medical groups declared the country was waging "a losing battle" against the contagion and asked the president to reimpose a lockdown in the capital. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

People cross the streets in Tokyo Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020. Confirmed coronavirus cases are hovering at near record levels in Japan, raising worries the pandemic may be growing more difficult to control. The Tokyo government reported more than 290 new cases Sunday, about half in their 20s. (Kyodo News via AP)

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August 2, 2020 - 11:26 am

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — White House coronavirus task force leader Dr. Deborah Birx says widespread coronavirus infections in urban and rural America mark a “new phase” for the pandemic as she doubled down on calls to wear face masks and observe social distancing measures.

Birx, speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday morning, said “What we are seeing today is different from March and April. It is extraordinarily widespread.”

The United States has the world’s biggest number of cases at 4.6 million, or one-quarter of the total, and 154,361 deaths. Birx said mitigation efforts across the west and the south are beginning to work but warned that people need to take the virus seriously and employ significant safety precautions when cases first begin to tick up.

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