White House seeks to reassure on coronavirus

WASHINGTON — The Trump White House sought again to reassure the public about the coronavirus threat, after it claimed six people in the United States and Axios reported some test kits produced at a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lab may have been tainted.

During the third White House briefing on COVID-19 in a week, Vice President Mike Pence acknowledged the four additional fatalities announced Monday and offered condolences to affected families.

According to Pence, the administration’s point man in responding to coronavirus, there have been 43 confirmed domestic cases and 48 individuals who contracted the virus outside the U.S. were returned to the country.

“Despite today’s sad news, let’s be clear; the risk to the American people is low,” Pence added.

Pence also told reporters that he listened to governors’ pleas last week for more test kits and new protocols that would result in testing Americans who might have picked up the virus in their own communities.

On Saturday, the FDA granted emergency authorization for two New York laboratories to develop tests and amended rules to expedite testing.

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn told Axios that manufacturing issues with the kits had been resolved and “FDA has confidence in the design and current manufacturing of the test that already have and are continuing to be distributed.”

During the Monday briefing, Hahn said that he expected “a substantial increase in the number of tests, this week, next week and throughout the month. The estimates that we’re getting from industry by the end of this week, close to a million tests” would be available, he said.

The public should prepare, Pence said, for what likely will follow more testing of a wider group of people. “As we find more cases, it will mean our health officials are doing their job,” he said.

In the afternoon, Trump met with pharmaceutical executives to discuss a possible COVID-19 vaccine and how the government could help them speed up the process.

Medical ethicist Art Caplan said that efforts to develop a vaccine could be hit or miss. Tests are essential in containing the spread of the outbreak by determining who has it and needs to be isolated.

Overall, Caplan said of the federal response, “I think they were a little too slow. I think they didn’t jump on the China stuff fast enough.”

While China posted a notice about a pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan on Dec. 31, it was not until Jan. 31 that President Donald Trump declared a public health emergency. Two days earlier, Trump formed the President’s Coronavirus Task Force.

As Trump prepared to head to Charlotte, North Carolina, for a campaign rally, Caplan wondered, “When are you going to decide not to have a lot of social gatherings like press conferences, political rallies?”

Asked earlier in the day if he thought his rallies are “safe or appropriate” given the public health crisis, Trump said the rallies are “very safe.”

“Well, these were set up a long time ago,” Trump said. “You could ask that to the Democrats because they’re having a lot of rallies.”

On his way to Marine One, Trump told reporters, “The stock market went up — I’m not sure, it may be a record, and I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1,293.96 points, or 5.1%, to 26,703.32. The S&P 500 climbed 4.6 percent.

Still, questions about travel are not likely to go away. Asked last week what he would tell friends who were planning a trip to China or a cruise, chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow said he would tell them, “Stay home.”

The White House postponed a meeting of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations planned summit in Las Vegas in mid-March.

When a reporter asked Pence if he had concerns about travel in America, and if he would consider taking his grandchildren, say, to Disneyland, Pence responded, “Well, I can say there’s been no recommendation about any limitations on travel within the United States of America.”

He added, “It’s a good time to wash your hands.”

Pence said the White House press corps should expect daily briefings on the outbreak.

Contact Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com or 202=662-7391. Follow @DebraJSaunders on Twitter.