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Trump to host his first Coronavirus Task Force briefing since April

Trump to host his first Coronavirus Task Force briefing since April
Posted at 2:27 PM, Jul 21, 2020
and last updated 2020-07-21 17:15:37-04

For the first time since April, President Donald Trump will host a press briefing by the White House Coronavirus Task Force on Tuesday evening at 5 p.m. ET.

Trump's briefing will come as confirmed cases of COVID-19 surge toward the 4 million mark in the U.S. and as daily confirmed cases routinely reach more than 60,000 a day — more than during any other time of the pandemic.

Hospitalizations and deaths linked to the virus are also on the rise at a national level.

It's unclear if Trump will be joined with other task force members or health officials. When asked Tuesday what other task force members would be at the briefing, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany declined to comment.

Trump's briefings with the task force were a near-daily occurrence in March and April. However, between May and much of June, the task force held no briefings. The team has since held a few public press briefings hosted by Vice President Mike Pence, but none by the President.

Trump's appearances with the Coronavirus Task Force fell off in late April after he suggested during a briefing that health officials investigate injecting disinfectants into humans or attempting to treat the virus by bringing a "very powerful light" "into the body."

Days after those comments, the administration announced it was pulling back on the briefings in order to focus on restarting the economy.