Sunday shows – US approaching 100K coronavirus deaths as Americans venture out
by The Hill staff
Discussions on the Sunday morning political talk shows turned to masks and social distancing as Americans venture out for the Memorial Day weekend and the number of U.S. coronavirus-related deaths nears 100,000.
The coordinator of White House coronavirus task force, Deborah Birx, said those who can’t socially distance while outside need to wear a mask.
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett also said that high unemployment rates sparked by the coronavirus pandemic could remain in the double digits through the presidential election in November.
Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator, on Sunday clarified her comments about going to the beach Memorial Day weekend, saying those who can’t socially distance outside need to wear a mask.
“This is not about politics, this is not about whether you’re liberal or conservative, left or right, Republican, Democrat. We wear the mask, and it’s been very clear what the studies have shown, you wear the mask not to protect yourself so much as to protect others. And this is one time when we truly are all in this together,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
White House coronavirus task force coordinator Deborah Birx said Sunday she is “very concerned” that some Americans who are venturing out for the Memorial Day holiday weekend are not maintaining social distancing.
Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator, said Sunday that it is difficult to tell if the country will close again because of the pandemic.
“We have to manage the risk,” Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) said on “Fox News Sunday.” “We take the virus very seriously, it’s a risk, it causes death, but you can’t cloister yourself at home, that is just contrary to the American spirit.”
“We announced a budget on Friday for the next four months and we had it cut or defer over $5 billion of expenditures, and this includes potentially laying off educators, firefighters, police, EMS, health-care workers. This is not abstract, this is real,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Unemployment rates sparked by the coronavirus pandemic could remain in the double digits through the presidential election in November, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Sunday.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said on Sunday that states can conduct mail-in voting for the November election amid the coronavirus pandemic, but said laws to mitigate fraud need to be in place.
Rep. Val Demmings (D-Fla.), a who is considered a potential running mate for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, on Sunday called out President Trump for campaigning off comments Biden made about black voters.
White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien on Sunday compared China’s response to the coronavirus outbreak to the Soviet response to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
The White House hopes to reach a decision soon on whether to cut off travel from Brazil, a worsening coronavirus hotspot, national security adviser Robert O’Brien said Sunday.
